FDR At Home: A Collection of Essays

By Nancy Fogel

This volume honors Edmund Platt who was a Poughkeepsie native (1865-1939). Mr Platt served as a US Congressman. Elected to represent New York's 26th District in the United States House of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 094473300X
• ISBN13: 9780944733004
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Library Research Associates Inc
• Length: 140 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The neighbor FDR dreamed of being

Local history buffs, as well as those addicted to the endless flow of material related to FDR's private adventures will enjoy a new view of the man as the Neighbor he dreamed of being, but whose experience he did not live to enjoy. The word "Home" in the title is the key to a better understanding of a wealth of personal unexplored of unconnected FDR information. Short personal memoirs of neighbors and family estate workers combine with erudite, footnoted studies by area scholars to reveal the importance of a sustained and physically preserved home territory, history and environment to FDR's personal survival and successes during the tortuous years of his leadership. Accolades for this book have come from FDR historian and author Geoffrey C. Ward, FDR's granddaughter Eleanor Roosevelt Seagraves and FDR Library Director Cynthia Koch. Readers, enjoy!

a must have book for FDR fans

FDR at Home is a refreshing look at the enormous amount of time the President spent at home. From an early age through adulthood, FDR had a real fettish for his ancestral home, Hyde Park. No FDR afficianado, researcher or historian should be without this book. It is fresh, vivid and really brings who the man was right to you. As a local historian with ten years of curatorial/exhibit experience, I have been VERY fortunate to have worked with a great deal of FDR memorabilia, particularly photographs and press material, and this book makes wonderful use of some of that material. Kudos to the authors, editor and all who took part in producing this work. It is fantastic, and a must for every library and private collection.

Understanding FDR

What I found in the essays in FDR at Home is a personal view of the man, from his background and early foray into politics to his love of history and assembling of a team of local historians, to his wide-ranging interests in birding and forestry and Dutch architecture. These essays illustrate the forces that formed and sustained this complex man.

Yet Another Side to an Extraordinarily Complex Man

This book provides a unique look at a side of FDR's life that is both unexpected and fascinating. Authors of 16 essays explore how even as FDR became a living legend on the American and world stage, he meticulously maintained his identity as "neighbor" and kept up a surprisingly vibrant local life in his Hudson Valley home county. FDR at Home presents us with a man who became president while still holding fast to local offices like church vestryman, town historian and even member of a local fire company! An intimate local view of a man who was intensely shaped by a love of home and community and went to amazing lengths to remain part of them - even as national and international events pulled him away.