Traitor to His Class

The only person ever elected to four terms as president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office during the Great Depression, and extended his reign well into WWII. Mark Deakins presents the detailed biographical material with a mixture of scholarly detachment and involved interest. When quoting dialogue or speeches by the president, he convincingly conveys the man's patrician pronunciations and tone, as preserved in recordings. Deakins uses the same approach for Churchill, and one wonders if the two leaders really tried to "out-pomposify" each other. Matters of historical significance receive appropriate gravity in Deakins's performance, while Roosevelt's younger years and personal life receive a lighter touch. One can't help but reflect on the parallels between the Roosevelt years and our own time. R.L.L. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine


Author Brands seeks to explore the question of why Franklin Roosevelt, a man born to wealth and the upper class, would become such a champion for the underclass and the economically dispossessed. While the author traces the answer to FDR's battle with polio, the main focus of the book is to offer a solid one-volume biography of the president. Patrick Egan takes an almost conversational tone in the narration, which makes the material flow. He uses just enough changes in tone to create variety without affectation. To his credit, he doesn't try to imitate FDR's voice, even in direct quotes. The abridgment is seamless, and no significant moments in his life are omitted. R.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine