Harry Hopkins: Ally of the Poor and Defender of Democracy
An impressive study of Hopkins's career as an innovative social worker, federal relief administator, Franklin Roosevelt's advisor, defense expert, political strategist, cabinet member, and intimate. Using manuscript sources, the author examines Hopkins's decisive role in grappling with problems of economic collapse and world war. The first eight chapters show the development of the traits and skills that characterized Hopkins's wartime service. McJimsey does not give an ultimate verdict on Hopkins's success. While this work does not replace Robert Sherwood's Roosevelt and Hopkins (1948), it places Hopkins's career in the context of the latest scholarship. The result is a highly readable, richly detailed, meticulously researched, much fuller portrait of this remarkable man that will appeal to scholars as well as to laypersons. Highly recommended. Charles E. Kratz, Hofstra Univ. Lib., Hempstead, N.Y.Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.