Franklin Delano Roosevelt by Conrad Black

The author of this book has also written a biography of comparable length of Richard Nixon. I must say that compared to Roosevelt, Nixon comes across as positively principled and idealistic. Black portrays FDR as a bold and gifted but somewhat underhanded and unscrupulous leader. His portraits of all of the major figures of this period–Churchill, Stalin, Hitler, de Gaulle–are also quite memorable. I can’t really do this book justice in the short space allowed here, but this book is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the history of the twentieth century.