make the book well worth a read. I certainly learned a lot. I am huge fan of the Oxford Series of American History, and this is the best of the ones I have read. It covers the FDR era, from Depression to WWII. Incredible sourcing and well written. I don't know how anyone can challenge the research, conclusions, and information of this book, and given that, I do not know how anyone can not realize FDR's greatness. Massive comprehensive and dense. By the time I finished I had forgotten the main ideas from the first half. Answers a lot of questions for me about why the great depression lasted ( middle class consumption is the engine of our economy), what kind of a person was FDR (instinctive politician not a strategist or careful planner), was the allied victory in WWII a foregone conclusion (yes, once the might of US industry was fully mobilized, no one else could produce as much as far away from the fight ...more Massive comprehensive and dense. By the time I finished I had forgotten the main ideas from the first half. Answers a lot of questions for me about why the great depression lasted ( middle class consumption is the engine of our economy), what kind of a person was FDR (instinctive politician not a strategist or careful planner), was the allied victory in WWII a foregone conclusion (yes, once the might of US industry was fully mobilized, no one else could produce as much