The Roosevelts: An American Saga by Peter Collier

The Roosevelts: An American Saga by Peter Collier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An intimate look at the families of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt. rather than just look at what they did in history this takes an intimate look at the individuals and how they related as a family. In other words this is a family focused story account and outside events are treated as secondary priority. Everyone's strengths and flaws are looked at. If anything could be taken from this is that even though they may have had money and prestige they were imperfect and dysfunctional.

Theodore, Eleanor and Franklin each had to over come adversity in their lives. Theodore fought to over come his childhood illness's and losing his mother and first wife(soon after giving childbirth) on the same day. Eleanor who over came losing first her mother then her Father(Elliot who was Theodore's brother)who committed suicide for untold reasons. Franklin grew up struggling to gain independence from an overbearing mother and then to be struck with polio just as his political career was about to take off.

We learn how a rivalry developed between the two sides of the family. The children of each side struggled to live up to their parents image and strengths but many times coming up short. They are human just like the rest of us.

I did enjoy listening to this and certainly learned a lot from it. I recommend this if your looking for a more intimate look these families and that were a big influence on our country in the first half of the 20th Century.

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Disney's The Finest Hours - Trailer 1

Must see this!

Based on a true Coast Guard rescue. Filmed in New England and in the town I grew up in, Marshfield, Massachusetts. Based on the book by Michael Tougias and Casey Sherman who are both local authors.  

Sarah Vowell on The Daily Show

Happy Treason Day

How We Fight: Crusades, Quagmires, and the American Way of War by Dominic Tierney

How We Fight: Crusades, Quagmires, and the American Way of War by Dominic Tierney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An in depth look at how the United States fights it's wars. The book takes a look into the wars America has fought from The War of 1812 to the modern day Iraq and Afghanistan. The book both analyzes and critiques the was which are a variety of Interstate wars, crusades, and quagmires. I did find the the outlook and findings to be on an even keel as far as political bias as one might think it would be. So if your looking for something just blasting one political party or another you'll probably won't find as much ammo as you'd like. I found a lot of interesting insights and even stuff I agreed with and have thought of before..

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