significant history lesson: One does not set out to make history, history is made when men (and women! Roosevelt appoi ...more Don't let the size of this book intimidate you. It's an ambitious work which does a fine job of encapsulating the decision making and policy considerations which were responsible for shaping the New Deal. But Kennedy goes further and shows how the American people's willingness to invest in a vision were crucial to any prospects of economic recovery. What's more, you learn a very significant history lesson: One does not set out to make history, history is made when men (and women! Roosevelt appointed the first female cabinet member in U.S. history) rise to the perilous occasion and stand fixed and prepared to accept the consequences of their good and bad decisions. So much of what I read mirrors our nation's current economic travails and I sought to gain some insight into what brand of leadership, vision, and action a nation's leaders could be expected to exert when desperate eyes seek them out to lead the way to greener pastures. (less) There are two things you should know before reading this book. The first is that it is a very thorough history of the period, and as such, a fairly long book that requires a serious commitment. The second is, as other reviewers have noted, there is very little about the people beyond statistics and a few anecdotes. Rather, this is a comprehensive textbook of American history from the