FDR: The War President, 1940-1943: A History
The fifth volume of Kenneth S. Davis's magisterial, much-praised  biography follows FDR from his re-election to an unprecedented third term in  November 1940 through New Year's Eve, 1942, when he screened a brand-new film,Casablanca, at the White  House. During the intervening 25 months, President Roosevelt prepared a  reluctant nation for the war that he knew was coming, then struggled to maintain  the government's commitment to his New Deal social programs, as well as the  conflict overseas. Like its predecessors, this installment combines shrewd,  intimate psychological insights into Roosevelt's character with a sweeping  historical narrative of world events and a superbly detailed account of  Washington political maneuvers--all three laid out in grave, elegant prose.  Perhaps Davis's most notable achievement lies in tracing the links between FDR's  personality and his leadership style: the unexpected benefits of his maddening  indecisiveness, his ability to use even his crippling physical handicap to  political advantage, the way in which the adult president cemented personal and  professional ties with the evasive charm that he developed in adolescence to  defend himself against a smothering mother. Admirers of serious yet accessible  biography can regret only that the author's death in 1999 means that there will  be no concluding volume to this magnificent series, which has shed so much light  on one of the more complex men ever to inhabit the White House.--Wendy  Smith