1929-1945 (Oxford History of the United States) - The American People in Depression and War

Here's a review in process: I'm about 1/3-thru this book, and have found it to be almost entirely broad narrative of the Hoover presidency & American population trends. Gets pretty tedious. I'm hoping the author at some point relates individual experiences thru firsthand accounts, specific stories and vivid description of American lives that allow the reader to see, feel, taste what it was really like to live in this time period. Will update this review with hopefully more positive things to say. Nothing sticks in my mind at the moment, which is the problem of narrative writing.

I lived during the depression years. I am also a veteran of both theaters of world war 11. I am aware that the war effort broke the depression. There was to much detail regarding the war although I understood that the author wanted to make the point that the depression was brokeny the war effort.

This book is intended as a broad survey of the 1930s and 1940s and how the American people responded to the crises of the centuries. It is interesting and worthwhile for anyone interested in twentieth century American history.

My concern is that David Kennedy has at least one misquote. First some background, not all from the book. In 1934 critics started criticizing the New Deal for infringing on personal liberty. These criticisms were made with varying degrees of responsibilities. Communists said the New Deal was fascist. They don't count for much since they had pledged loyalty to the Soviet Union and were acting under Stalin's orders.

Others were more responsible. Left-Liberal publications like The New Republic and The Nation worried that the Civilian Conservation Corps' military nature could lead to fascism. President Roosevelt subsequently toned down some of the Corps' military .aspects and alleviated these concerns. Murray Rothbard, a libertarian, said that the National Industrial Recovery Act resembled fascism because it had mandatory cartels. Indeed the NIRA was corporatist, which isn't necessarily fascist. Conservatives complained of "regimentation" and drew cautionary comparisons between the New Deal and economic programs in the Soviet Union, Germany, and Italy.

Kennedy quotes FDR's fireside chat responding to the topic. According to the book (Chapter 8), FDR first denied any radical influence on his economic programs, saying they were based on practical considerations. After an ellipsis, the quote continues with FDR saying telling listeners to go through "each provision" of the Bill of Rights and ask themselves if their constitutional rights were violated.

The source for the quote is Roosevelt's official presidential papers. The first problem is that the quote doesn't match the papers. Kennedy switched around the sentences before and after the ellipsis. The ellipsis covers three intervening pages of text. This is way too much. It obscures several times where FDR switched topics. Quotations are supposed to represent the original statement. Ellipsis aren't supposed to change meaning. FDR did not intend the rhetorical question on the Bill of Rights to be the test of whether the New Deal was influenced by radical foreign governements.

A second problem is that both parts of Roosevelt's statements were false, and Kennedy doesn't catch it. In 1935 the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the Schechter case that the NIRA violated the Tenth Amendment. The Schecter case is still valid and was cited as recently as 2011 in the case of Bond v. United States. In addition, without providing specific details, FDR acknowledged privately that the New Deal was "somewhat" influenced by radical European governments. I guess that this was the NIRA, since at least several scholars said that it was influenced by radical European economic programs.

It is important to point out that none of the responsible critics claimed that Roosevelt was a dictator or a totalitarian. Those were desperate times. Roosevelt was a pragmatise who studied under William James. Pragmatists prided themselves on being willing to consider ideas from unlikely sources.

If you want to know more about this interesting topic from well regarded scholars, Lewis Feuer, John Garraty, and James Q. Whitman have related scholarly articles available in JSTOR. Garraty's and Whitman's work is available for free.

I hope Kennedy's other quotes are more reliable. With that qualification, I recommend the book.

For a person who is researching the era of the Great Depression or someone who wants to confirm the details of specific legislation or who did/said what, this is the encyclopedia. There are 60 pages in the Index. Between this book and Anthony Badger's "The New Deal: The Depression Years, 1933-1940" just about everything is covered and the two authors agree on virtually all the conclusions and details.

Hoover implemented deficit spending for construction projects (including dams) which Roosevelt criticized and later was given credit for by people who don't study history. The Democrats obstructed legislation to insure Hoover's defeat in 1932 (the current situation is a replay).

P.69 "Down to 1931, the American depression seemed largely to be the product of American causes. A decade of stagnation in agriculture, flattening sales in the automobile and housing markets, the piratical abuses of Wall Street, the hair-raising evaporation of asset values in the Crash, the woes of the anarchic banking system- these were surely problems enough. Still they were domestic problems, and no American better understood them than Herbert Hoover, nor was any leader better prepared to take up arms against them. But now Europe was about to add some dreadful, back-breaking weight to Hoover's already staggering burden. In short order, what was still 1931 called the depression was about to become the unprecedented calamity known to history as the Great Depression."

P.72 "The US Treasury had loaned money to the Allied governments in wartime, and private American Bankers had loaned significant sums to Germany in the 1920s. The Germans relied on the continuing infusion of private American loans to make reparations payments to the British and the French, who in turn applied those sums to their own bills at the American treasury."

P.75 "In theory, incoming gold was supposed to expand the monetary base, increase the amount of money in circulation, and thereby inflate prices and lower interest rates. Outflowing gold supposedly had the inverse effect: shrinking the monetary base, contracting the money supply, deflating prices, and raising interest rates. Nations with already depressed economies proved to have little stomach for suffering further deflation through the loss of gold. To protect themselves, they raised tariffs and....eventually jettisoned the gold standard."

Between the Nov. election and March inauguration, Roosevelt refused to partner with Hoover to help the country (politics) or reveal what he intended to do. P.138 "Roosevelt sent his second emergency measure to Congress, requesting authority to cut some $500 million from the federal budget. He called for the elimination of some government agencies, reductions in the pay of both civilian and military employees, and a nearly 50 percent slash in payments to veterans." HAVE YOU EVER HEARD THIS?

P.148 "TVA duly created by Congress, delighted the progressives. It ratified beyond their dearest expectations the wisdom of the campaign support for Roosevelt. The Tennessee River cut through seven states of the impoverished, underdeveloped region. TVA would bring jobs, investment, and the promise of prosperity to a sprawling area that had stagnated since the Civili War. At a stroke, Roosevelt had thus earned the gratitude of the two most disparate elements in the unlikely political coalition he was trying to assemble: traditional southern Democrats and forward-looking Republican progressives."

The book covers the pros/cons of all Roosevelt's proposals and the arguments for each side of the issue. Since most of these issues are present today, a look back answers some of the "what if" questions. Simplistic political arguments by both parties today fail to inform you of the turmoil of the time.

The book is good at discussing the personal effects on farmers, factory workers, government employees, and Mexican farm workers.

"Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945" is a superb volume of the "Oxford History of the United States" series, and the second book in the series to win a Pulitzer Prize for History. It recounts with great clarity the period marked by the Great Depression and World War II. Historian David M. Kennedy provides a concise and fast-paced narrative of the Great Depression and Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, before launching into a fascinating account of the United States' involvement in World War II. The chapter covering "The War of Machines" - including the establishment of the Manhattan project - is especially brilliant.

Insightful, scholarly, and imbued with a flowing and easy to read narrative style, "Freedom From Fear" stands as one of the best one-volume accounts of mid-20th century American history available. Highly recommended.

Freedom From Fear is a comprehensive, extremely well-written and thoughtful interpretation of one of the most critical junctures in American History: the era of the Great Depression and WWII. In fluid, evocative prose David Kennedy takes readers on the roller coaster ride of a domestic economy that soars in the 20s to new heights and then crashes to the unchartered abyss of the 1930s. The author expertly navigates our insular history, its contribution to the international crises and FDRs critical revamp of our outdated economy and foreign policy outlook.

Kennedy does a terrific job of highlighting what matters, and while I don't agree with all of his interpretations, they are valid and worth considering. For example, while critical of Herbert Hoover the author is by no means as censorious as some have been in the past. He tries to give Hoover credit where it is due and discuss what, if anything might have been done better. Some reviewers here have bashed the author for being too critical of FDR. Again, I think Kennedy is too critical of a president who landed in the worst economic mess in our history, but his interpretations are a valid point of view. Further, he substantiates his objections through example and discussion. Kennedy isn't a revisionist or driven by any political prejudice I could detect.

Kennedy reserves his harshest criticism of FDR for not clearly articulating an agenda or charting a course and sticking to it. Fair enough, but when one is in unchartered territory (in the case of the Great Depression pretty much without navigational equipment) it is hard to expect a leader to know what to do. Of necessity I think FDR went in many directions hoping one would lead us out of the doldrums. In hindsight it looks a lot like flailing. Also Kennedy notes the New Deal basically ended in 1937 but that isn't a) surprising--most second terms have a brief window before lame duck status sets in and b) dependency on a conservative Southerners just made it happen sooner rather then later. Did FDR shoot himself in the foot on occasion (Court packing, trying to defeat conservatives in primaries, etc.)....absolutely. But is there a president who hasn't?

FDR gets higher marks for foreign policy, dragging the US out of its self-imposed and destructive isolation. There's some lively discussion about lots of moral issues the war created as well. Neither side comes out of the discussion a paragon of virtue--which is fair. Best of all was FOF's social overview of the country through the war and the myths that sprang up afterward--men enlisted en masse after Pearl Harbor (they didn't). Women entering the work force was a watershed event (important but hardly monumental), Churchill and FDR gave Stalin Eastern Europe (they didn't but knew the only occupiers get to impose their ideology--a de facto nod) and other apocrypha. Very interesting and entertaining. Some reviews have pointed out reference mistakes, or minor inaccuracies and while I think it is important they be noted (and corrected) I disagree strongly that these somehow impinge upon the overall credibility of Freedom From Fear. A book with thousands of references, names, dates, places, events and people is bound to have some reference errors. Fix them and move on.

So high marks to the author and Oxford for a stimulating and engaging look at a fascinating time. If I didn't always agree with some conclusions, I very much enjoyed being challenged to articulate (if only to myself) why that was so.

After reading David Walker Howe's excellent "What God Has Wrought: The Transformation of America, 18-15-1848" I begin looking at the other books in the Oxford History of the United States series. I saw David Kennedy's "Freedom from Fear" and assumed that it would be as well-written, broad and interesting as Howe's book. Big mistake!

In spite of its subtitle "The American People in Depression and War: 1929-1945" Kennedy's book is mainly a history of the Roosevelt administration, its policies, and politics and a military history of World War II. As far as a history of the American people, there is very little of the social or cultural history that made Howe's book so interesting.

As far as the political and military history of the Roosevelt administration, the writing is tedious, although I really don't find Kennedy to be overly biased one way or another.

Overall a disappointment.

David Kennedy provides timely reading for a country whose people pull in a hundred different directions as they seek to (re)discover their collective identity in a rapidly changing world. Kennedy is a brilliant storyteller and thumbnail biographer, and the story he tells is nothing less than the monumental tale of Franklin Roosevelt's "rendezvous with destiny" and how that encounter made us, in most significant dimensions, what we are today. The categories that defined the political debate over the New Deal are with us today, but the United States of 1929, where this narrative begins, although well within living memory, is scarcely recognizable for the revolution that Roosevelt and the 20th century's "thirty years war" wrought.

Here is the dramatic story of the "southern problem" -- the proud, intransigent backwardness of the American "mezzogiorno" -- Hoover's and Roosevelt's dogged efforts to remedy the rural woes that are the backdrop for the Great Depression, Hoover's heroic but doomed struggle to cope with economic collapse from within a confining conceptual box out of which he could not imagine his way, the brilliant Hundred Days of inaugural New Deal legislation, the labor wars of the mid-1930s and the rise of homegrown radicalism, the first stirrings of a proto-Civil Rights movement (and the appointment by Roosevelt of the first African-American judges to the Federal bench), the "Court-packing" controversy of 1937 that marked -- but did not cause -- the New Deal's grinding halt, and a brilliant summation of "What the New Deal Meant." The excellent chapters on WWII, and particularly on the home front, are in my view a solid and useful bonus (and provide an overview of material that many readers are likely to know much better than the 1930s story): the thrilling first half of this book is by itself worth the purchase price.

Kennedy writes sparkling prose, is a master of compression and synthesis, gives all significant sides their due (however briefly), offers balanced judgments, and has given us an excellent survey of a time when many roads and options were open, when the stakes were monumental, and when America truly might have become something very diffent from what it ultimately became. Read this, and press it into the hands of your children, and then thank whichever God you may pray to for the events that transpired from 1929 to 1945 and the way they worked out in US history. And if you are an American, Kennedy's monumental work will give you additional grist to invoke come Thanksgiving Day.

Over the course of the past several years I have mentioned many things about both my own generation, the Generation of '68 (read: the beginning of the baby-boomer curve), and that of my parents. Probably more readers today are familiar with the political turmoil churned up by my generation, have seen or read about the 1960s and the "hippie counterculture, or have been thrust into the center of various "culture wars" that have been fought in reaction to those times for the last forty years or so. As my parents' generation, the generation who lived through the hard times of the Great Depression of the 1930s, a period that has been the subject of many comparisons with today's economic mess, and who fought a war, a "good" war in their eyes, have begun to pass away in great numbers that story may not be as fresh to today's reader.

Needless to say as part of a generic Oxford History of The United States this volume , Freedom From Fear, by David Kennedy is heavy on the macro-history of the period in its eight hundred plus pages. While that may not be enough, not nearly enough for those who want to learn the lessons of the history of this period I believe that as a general primer in order to get the flavor of the periods explored that this is an excellent primer, for the general reader and budding specialist. I might add here that Professor Kennedy has aided the reader's cause by keeping a light hand on the story line and in keeping the sometimes bewildering mass of material in an orderly manner. And always appreciated, especially in eight hundred page tomes, the footnotes are on the same page as they are cited, a practice that a great many scholarly works could benefit from.

No one, historian or lay reader, can speak of the period from 1929-1945 in America without recognizing the central figure of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In my household for my parents' generation, and their parents' generation, the name evoked a living god. Although this book bring FDR back to earth a little, especially over some of his more bureaucratic moves, like trying to pack the Supreme Court, he still mainly comes off as the hero of my family household remembrances.

Professor Kennedy takes us through the reasons for that positive image as he starts with the economic and political atmosphere in America in the late 1920s, the great Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the policies of FDR's predecessor, Herbert Hoover, that were either too little too late or too benign to be effective. After a few years of the Hoover policy FDR (read: non-Hoover) looked pretty good. At least his ideas for putting a massively unemployed nation back to work held out promise. Kennedy also spends much time on the general condition of the country, who was being listened to, who had the ear of the people and who was just spinning wheels, as FDR entered office.

Then we are taken on a long stretch through the various alphabet soups of agencies and programs that FDR and his cohorts tried to implement in order to get things moving and that is the theme that carries the book through most of the 1930s up until the war rumblings from Europe started. The most central proposition that Professor Kennedy (and not he alone) pushes forth, and he is basically correct, is that no amount of tinkering to save the capitalist system by FDR and his programs really broke the back of unemployment and resolved the central problem of economic turmoil in America. That was not resolved until the massive buildup of armaments for World War II put people back to work.

FDR's domestic program takes up about one half of the book, the other half, and to my mind the less fruitful part takes up the struggle for America's entry into World War II against the very strong isolationist tendencies here and then, once war was inevitable, the various strategies to win the European and Pacific component of the war. Professor Kennedy does a good job of running through the various controversies, at home and with foreign allies, and the order of battles on each front up to the decisive one of using the atomic bomb against the Japanese.

For the most part reading through this broad history of the period reminded me of my high school readings from this period. But history is a moving target and thus Professor Kennedy, as befits later research and a tip of the hat to the modern trend toward the concerns of micro-history, addresses several issues that never saw the light of day back then. Among them the controversy over the "wisdom" of using the atomic bomb, the placing of Japanese-Americans in concentration camps (along with a legal imprimatur from the Supreme Court) , the segregation of blacks soldiers in the military, the role of women in war production and the governmental bureaucracy and the labor movement's attitude toward the war. I do wish that Professor Kennedy had spent a little more time on life at the base of society during this whole period (as opposed to reports about what some government official thought was happening at the base). But for that kind of thing you can run over to Studs Terkel's The Good War or other such compilation. For an outstanding primer on the period though, this is your stop,

It is not often that one has the privilege of reading a historical masterpiece. David M. Kennedy's Freedom From Fear affords us that rare opportunity. This is one of those unique histories which transcends its genre, becoming at once art and literature behind the unseen hand of the master storyteller. The very attempt to write of America in the transformative years 1929-1945 would daunt the greatest writers. The wonder of this achievement is that it so elegantly and lucidly tells the story, with such apparent ease, of two great wars -- the Great Depression and World War II. Most importantly Kennedy throughout maintains his ultimate perspective - the American people, the highest and the most 'ordinary', shown against the backdrop of enormously complex domestic and international events. If you want to learn (and teach, as I do) about this period of enormous upheaval in 20th century America, this is the book.
To the specifics. Kennedy in his prologue places the major players in their respective, middling stations on November 11, 1918: Lance Corporal Hitler in hospital; munitions minister Churchill staring at Big Ben chiming 11:00; commissar Stalin "dealing" with counterrevolutionaries; Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt awakening to a riotous din of celebration. Kennedy tells us Hoover's official theory of the Depression: "The primary cause of the Great Depression was the war of 1914-1918." But Kennedy wisely notes that the Depression was sui generis, "thus far [resisting] comprehensive explanation".
Then in a lightning succession of almost breathtaking chapters, Kennedy gives us just that. He leads us through the fateful years with exhaustive unobtrusive scholarship, tinged at times with irony, mostly tempered with empathy. One cannot read this book and not feel a reverence for this land and its people, as the author undoubtedly intended.
Though the facts pour forth furiously, we glide through them, rendered as they are into good old plain English. As we progress through each chapter, the suspense builds unfailingly toward a dramatic, sometimes breathless, climax. This is a whale of a page-turner. Thus, for example, "an epidemic of failures flashed through the banking system" and the "suspension of the Bank of the United States represented the largest bank failure in American history...[holding] the savings of some 400,000 persons." Then at the end of the chapter, "Panic": "In short order, what was still in 1931 called the depression was about to become the unprecedented calamity known to history as the Great Depression."
Hoover, in 1928 "the most competent man in America, maybe in the world", did everything wrong. FDR, "master reconciler" coined the simple phrase that would give a name to an era, "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people." Nobody knew what it meant. More apt, perhaps, was his exhortation to "above all, try something." Thus, the hundred days of furious activity in the capital, while the nation continued to fall precipitously into the brink. A cartoon showed a farmer shaking the hand of a tall, erect, standing FDR: "Yes, you remembered me." But it was of course the war that 'saved' the farmer and in fact the world.
The second half of the book takes us through World War II with remarkable insight into the key diplomatic, geopolitical and military events that shaped its ends. While "America slid back into its historic attitude of isolationism", Hitler "feared nothing from the United States." While Chamberlain parroted "peace in our time", Churchill fulminated that "this is only the beginning of the reckoning." But while America was becoming "the great arsenal of democracy", in FDR's words, the Great Depression began to end. Kennedy again shows an uncanny talent for placing the specific into the context of the great. In 1937, he notes, "America turned out 4.8 million cars, Japan 26,000." The importance? In Stalin's words, "the most important things in this war are machines....The United States...is a country of machines." Kennedy condemns the perfidy of the disaster at Pearl Harbor, but rightly places it in its broader context as "systemic, pervasive...embedded in a tangle of only partially thought-out strategic assumptions...colored by smug attitudes of racial superiority." The drug-addicted Hitler is not informed of D-Day until noon. Such details, running throughout the book, bring to mind Richard III's kingdom for a horse, juxtaposing the small against the large, leading to disaster (some for us, most for 'them').
Due respect is finally accorded the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, an all-Japanese (segregated) unit that conspicuously distinguished itself, while Americans of Japanese ancestry were interned at home in concentration camps, again a touch of the great empathy of the author for often forgotten Americans.
Finally, the striking photos are integral to the theme of the American in the time of his greatest trial. Standing alone, they expose much of the history Kennedy explains. The cheering mobs in Philadelphia on November 11, 1918; a "we cater to white trade only" sign; a vast breadline in New York; "Okies" in California; Hoover's pursed lips and narrowed eyes as he sits uncomfortably next to FDR; FDR speaking to a North Dakota farmer from his open car; Ford goons breaking a strike; FDR with brain trusters Ickes, Wallace, Hopkins; the demagogues Long, Lewis, Coughlin; Hitler giving a Nazi salute with a smug Goering below him. The war photos are equally evocative, a Marine's face at Palau; Ike speaking to men on the eve of D-Day, "fearing that he was sending most of these men to their deaths"; Buchenwald; "Little Boy"; and Churchill, Truman and Stalin smiling with hands clasped at Potsdam. In sum, if there is any book you should read about this monumental era, it is this book.

Any book that wins the author the Pulitzer Prize can't be all that bad. Kennedy has done an impressive job of taking one of the more momentous periods in American history and providing his readers with a short, but thorough survey to the American experience in both the Great Depression and the Second World War. This book is rare in that it will appeal to academic historians, policy wonks, but the general reader. A book that is nearly a 1000 pages in length might not seem short, but when one considers the mountain of literature that has been written on just World War II, you begin to realize how difficult it is provide a narrative account of these years without getting bogged down in the details. Kennedy's greatest strength is the quality of his prose. He won the Pulitzer once before, so you know he can write.

Kennedy's story starts with the Great Depression and he attributes this economic crisis to long term issues stemming from the consequences of World War I rather than the policies of Herbert Hoover. In fact, he gives Hoover good marks for his vigorous efforts to improve the economy. Kennedy takes complex economic issues and explains them in simple terms without insulting his readers--not an easy thing to do. The American people, though, were of a different mind, blamed Hoover, and voted Franklin D. Roosevelt into the same office that his famous "Uncle Ted" had once occupied. Kennedy clearly respects and admires the second Roosevelt's political and leadership skills. He, however, sees the New Deal as being a weak at its center and conservative in nature. Calling the New Deal conservative might seem odd, but it stayed within the boundaries of what was acceptable to American society and was far less radical compared to the political philosophies that were gripping other regions of the globe at about this time.

The second half of this book focuses on World War II, and will appeal more to general readers and is essentially a second book. In fact, the publisher has split the two sections and sells each as a separate book. The main continuing theme is the quality of Roosevelt's leadership; this time as a wartime Commander-in-Chief. Kennedy rejects the "greatest generation" malarkey and notes that Americans were slow to see the evil of the Nazis or the threat that Germany posed to their interests. Roosevelt made mistakes, but he knew what needed to be done and what was possible, generally was able to thread the needle between the two. Kennedy's coverage of the war years is broad and comprehensive, but is also detailed. There is a good deal of military history here, which is apporpriate and he moves easily from the strategic to the operation and even the tactical. In this sense, his coverage is quite similar to James McPherson's "Battle Cry Freedom," another Pulitzer winner from the same series that published this "Freedom from Fear."

The subtitle of this book is a bit odd in that there is not a whole of focus on the American people, but rather their leaders. Nonetheless, this is an exceptional book that you will enjoy reading.

I applaud David M. Kennedy for what he accomplished here. Freedom from Fear is a great historical work, covering a significant period of time with not only exhaustively researched facts but also insightful analysis. It's also impeccably written. This is a true gem of a book; no wonder it received the honors it did.

I am far more interested in social and political history than military history, so the most riveting parts of the book for me were on the Depression. His thorough analysis on the causes of the Depression and the trials and tribulations of the people and politicians during the 1930s was impressive. I felt that Kennedy offered a strong balance of social and political history here, and when I was done, I did not feel like he had omitted anything important. This was especially the case with the Depression; he used some poignant anecdotes to illustrate the struggles of average citizens and the pre-Depression poverty affliction, and he gave a detailed and fair synopsis of the New Deal. His main argument was that Roosevelt did not always have a clear plan for the New Deal, and that the New Deal hardly ended the Depression, but that his 1933 reforms preserved the capitalist system and the 1935 reforms were very helpful and of long-lasting importance to the country.

An equally impressive aspect of the book was the predominantly narrative form it maintained. I read Gordon Wood's contribution to the Oxford Series (Empire of Liberty) and was a bit disappointed because he chose a thematic approach, so it was challenging to determine at times how various events impacted each other. Kennedy told a gripping story that was difficult to put down. Some might gripe that he gave more coverage to the Pacific side of the war than the European, but our role in the European theater was less significant than we often make it out to be.

This was the third book I've read from this Oxford Series, and it's the best. Highly recommended.

I read "Freedom from Fear" to get some idea of what my parents went through and what they talked about. Even though the times were hard in the Depression and in WWII, they seemed to look back on it with nostalgia. Just ask them about Roosevelt and they would almost get misty saying he was just about the greatest person who had ever lived. Sure the Depression and War were hard, but the enemies were definitely bad guys, and there was no gray area to worry about, as in Vietnam and Iraq. Also, the families and society pulled together in a common cause as in no time since.

But this was only part of the picture, and I'm afraid that David M. Kennedy attempts to tell us the whole story, and it was thoroughly unromantic, and even blunt. He has the cold, objective eye of a historian separated emotionally and by years from the events he covers. In my opinion, it is really the way it should be covered, and he did a good job of it.

Roosevelt, for example, gets a mixed grade for his heroic efforts to get the country back on track economically and through the War. For example, he approved the fire-bombing and atomic-bombing of enemy cities for morale-defeating purposes. He also required unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan early in the War, which may have unnecessarily cost hundreds-of-thousands of lives at the end of the War, when Germany and Japan felt obliged to fight to the bitter end (very bitter indeed for atom-bombed Japan). Also, some of the decisions made by Roosevelt and the Allies led to the sectoring of Europe after the War, and initiated the Cold War which lasted until 1989 when the Wall came down.

On the other hand, Roosevelt gets good grades for the way he stimulated the economy. The Depression was NOT caused by the 1929 Crash per Kennedy, but was due in effect to the Industrial Revolution and the massive shift from an agrarian to an industrial society. The priming of the war machine not only won the War but stimulated the economy to such an extent that its effects are still felt today. His innovative so-called Keynesian (essentially governmental action) economic initiatives were keys to this remarkable turn-around. The US economy has roared for the decades since then, though punctuated by recessions from time-to-time to catch its breath.

The War stories were good too. I was surprised that Churchill was so hesitant to support the go-ahead of Overlord, the invasion of Europe that started on D-Day. Stalin was just as bad as you might imagine, though his Russia suffered immensely while waiting impatiently for a second front (Overlord) to finally begin. The Japanese were demonized by strong racial animosity, but lived up to it by their cruel and inhumane treatment of foreign prisoners, especially with the Bataan Death March. I was disturbed that the Allies, as it turned out, could be pretty bad as well (something you don't hear much about). American racial discrimination also prevailed during much of the War with the segregated African Americans left often on the sidelines. On a much different note, I was fascinated by the Battle of the Philippine Sea that was arguably the largest sea battle in history, and was enjoined by over 100,000 sea-faring combatants in hundreds of ships and planes, often miles apart! That was amazing to me! And then there was the saying that Eisenhower's smile was worth 20 divisions: I thought that perfectly captured his contagious spirit of optimism.

Also, the War lifted the country out of a massive country-wide psychological depression in which most folks apparently felt inadequate to cope with the economic trials. You might picture massive protests and uprisings, but surprisingly it was just the opposite: unhappy resignation and everyone feeling like a failure. I certainly didn't hear that part of the story from my family; they probably didn't want to talk about it.

I still think Roosevelt was a great man and a great president! He navigated the country through our most dangerous period since the Civil War. He simply had feet of clay like the rest of us.

What a great story "Freedom from Fear" tells, even though it is not romanticized.

"If the federal government should go out of existence, the common run of people would not detect the difference in the affairs of their daily life for a considerable length of time." This quote from Calvin Coolidge is in the opening chapter of David Kennedy's history of the Great Depression and World War II. The federal government most certainly drastically changed in size and scope during this period. Nevertheless, I find it odd that Kennedy should include this quote in his opening chapter, and then largely spend the entire history detailing the highest workings of exactly that federal government, especially in a history with the byline "the American *People* in Depression and War".

In the realm of high politics, Kennedy has written a solid, if perhaps overlong, tertiary history (he mostly relies on the work of such historians as Schesinger, and Richard Overy). It offers valuable insight into the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations, especially in demonstrating that Hoover had some strong positive traits, and FDR some real faults (they mostly come across as having similar agendas, but vastly different personalities. If anything, FDR was more of a conservative). The reader also gains some valuable insight into the principle figures of the New Deal and World War II-era Washington, an interesting chapter on the Home Front in World War II, as well as some snapshots as to the "average" American in 1929 and 1945.

But ultimately I think the book suffers from both being too broad, and not broad enough. At 900 pages (it was originally published as two volumes), I found it a fairly straightforward read, but I think it could have easily conveyed the same amount of information in 500 pages. And it ultimately is not really a history of the American people. You get passing reference to such events as the Dust Bowl and migration to California, and some descriptions of social conditions (mostly through quotes from fact-finding missions by Lorena Hickok's to Harry Hopkins). You get a chapter on labor (mostly about the CIO) But for such a period of massive social change and social challenges, there is a lot that is conspicuously absent. Nothing at all about Hollywood, despite this being its golden age with the introduction of sound and color. Not much about radio, despite its takeoff as a mass medium (Father Coughlin is the main example provided). Nothing about sports, despite the fame of Ruth and Gehrig in this period. Nothing about aviation (Lindbergh and Earhart). And little about art and literature in this period (despite Hemingway and Steinbeck). These are all "light" subjects compared to the traditional politics and military histories, but other volumes of the Oxford History of the United States series seem to have more successfully interwoven these different strands into one history to give the reader a real sense of the country during the period covered. Even women's history and African-American history are largely tacked on, or relayed in the abstract (there is very little about the Great Migration, for example).

So, if you are looking for a history of the Hoover and Roosevelt Administrations in Depression and War, this is a good general history (the bibliographical essay is great, although it's dated by about 15 years at this point). But if you're look for a broad history of American society in the 1930s and 1940s, this only provides a rough sketch.

David Kennedy has written a superb book that is definitely worthy of the Pulitzer prize it has recieved. Professor Kennedy treats the Great Depression and the second World War as unified events that constitute the seminal event of the twentieth century.Kennedy gives a lucid account of the causes of the Depression and gives one of the most accurate accounts of the career of one of our most misunderstood Presidents, Herbert Hoover. Hoover was in fact a Progressive Republican in the
tradition of Theodore Roosevelt.Hoover very much believed in using government to fight the depression. A case can be made that the New Deal was simply the logical conclusion of Hoover's policies.The author is clearly a great admirer of Franklin Roosevelt who He believes saved America twice.But at the same time He is not blind to FDR's shortcomings. He readily concedes that the New Deal, which ended around 1938, failed to end the Depression.The New Deal's primary achieve- ment was a series of economic reforms which gave the American people real security against future economic downturns.The book also shows us the treacherous political minefield that Roosevelt led the nation through in the runup to our entry into World War II. This book is a very lengthy one but well worth the time it would take to read it. Professor Kennedy's achievement is an awesome one and deserves to take it's place alongside the Historical literature of this crucial period. I highly reccomend it.

The length of his book (858 pages) might be intimidating for some, but for me this book read like a great novel. It was totally engrossing all the way through. Despite the enormous level of detail, I never lost interest.

The two major events during this era were, of course, the depression and the war. Kennedy goes into great detail about the various programs FDR enacted in an attempt to combat the great depression. In chapter 12, entitled "What the New Deal Did", Kennedy sums up the effects of FDR's New Deal initiatives. Clearly, the New Deal failed to produce economic recovery. The unemployment rate never fell below 14.3% during FDR's first two terms. Kennedy says that "the New Deal's premier objective...was not economic recovery but structural reform. In the last analysis, reform was the New Deal's lasting legacy."

Kennedy gives an interesting account of the run-up to the U.S. entry into WW2. FDR was fighting the isolationist sentiment in Congress and in the country as a whole, so he resorted to all types of subterfuge to help the allies without violating U.S. law. In many instances he stretched U.S. law to ridiculous levels, as when he defined Iceland and Greenland as part of North America, in order to justify naval escorts of merchant ships carrying lend-lease goods to Britain, actions which were specifically prohibited by Congress. FDR also imposed severe economic sanctions on Japan, pushing that country to the inevitable attack on the U.S. Kennedy finds no evidence that FDR knew in advance about the attack on Perl Harbor, but there is no doubt he welcomed it, as he was, at that point, desperately searching for an excuse to enter the war.

FDR really faltered toward the end of his life. Kennedy says he never should have run for a fourth term, given how sick he was, and FDR's excuse for doing this, that as Commander in Chief he wasn't going to desert his troops in time of war, seems lame in retrospect. Given how sick he was, he certainly should have put more thought into selecting a running mate who would be taking over at FDR's death. And once Truman was selected, FDR should have properly briefed Truman on the progress of the war, instead of ignoring him. When FDR died, Truman did not even know about the atomic bomb project!

The hubris that characterized FDR's entire life was front and center in his final year. From the perspective that history allows us, it is apparent that FDR is vastly overrated as a president. His human rights record is abysmal--the internment of Japanese-Americans, the failure to allow the 930 Jewish refugees aboard the SS St. Louis into the country, the failure to desegregate the armed forces, the list just goes on and on. Certainly FDR was a great politician, but it takes more than being a great politician to be a great president.

This is the definitive history of the most challenging period in American history since the Civil War. David Kennedy's history is a portrait of a resilient people weathering economic havoc and surviving to find themselves in a war to save civilization itself. "Freedom From Fear" is a rare survey history that manages to be a page-turner. By the end of the book, the United States has matured into the preeminent world power, but American society has yet to face up to its deepest failings.
In addition to a sweeping history, Professor Kennedy gives the reader a sensitive biography of Herbert Hoover, the right man to serve the country as president but in power at the wrong time. Also, his portraits of the heroes and knaves of the Depression and World War II eras are always revealing and compelling.

Freedom From Fear is David M. Kennedy's prodigious volume in the Oxford History of the United States that covers America during the Depression and World War two. It begins and ends with a bang (the stock market crash of 1929 and the dropping of the atomic bomb to end the war in the pacific). Freedom From Fear is also a most fitting title. Franklin D. Roosevelt's words of inspiration characterize the American people and their ability to persevere the depression and a second and even more deadly world war.
Kennedy is an extremely good writer and that quality makes this book enjoyable to read as you gain a tremendous amount of knowledge and information from it. Kennedy does not miss a single pivotal moment within the time period making his book the best general (yet probing) history of the period. In conclusion, whether you are cramming for your oral examinations or are simply pursuing knowledge of this important era in American history Freedom From Fear is a more than adequate book.

Freedom from Fear is an excellent book about the two most important times in American history: the Depression and World War II. Author Dave Kennedy researched his subject well and wrote in great detail the effect the Depression and WWII had on the American people. One person who Dave Kennedy writes about in great depth is Franklin Roosevelt. The president sought a ambitious program during the Depression to help Americans, he called it the New Deal. The New Deal created many of the social programs American take fo granted today. The author tells the story of the New Deal achievements and shortcomings. His other subject is the effects of World War II on Americans and the role America plays in the eventual defeat of the Axis powers.
Dave Kennedy had a talent in storytelling. Even though the book is very long, I read with great interest and learned very much about how the Depression and the WWII changed life. I would highly recommend this book.

I'm a scholar (in philosophy), but I just don't know enough about American History. This book filled in a nice chunk for me. It's well written and easy to understand. It's also quite entertaining. Kennedy makes judgments about the personality of the people involved, which brings them to life. He's a bit hard on certain figures (eg MacArthur), but somehow that comes off as refreshing. There isn't a lot of hero worship here. Expect an honest account of what happened and some speculation on why, both from Kennedy and from his sources.

The book is well researched, so if you want to follow up on this overview of two of the most critical decades in U.S. history, you will have the resources to do so.

I plan to look for more books by this author, as he brings history alive in a way few writers do.

This is an excellent book covering the Great Depression and American involvement in World War 2, and it is well deserving of its Pulitzer Prize. The only question I have is, why did it leave out such important parts of American culture during the '30s as the notorious criminals like John Dillinger and the Mafia, and other bits of culture like the early Disney cartoons and the Three Stooges? The author shows an obvious mastery of knowledge in the World War 2 half of this book, so I would like to know why important cultural icons were left out of the Depression half. It seems that the focus on the 1930's was overbearingly on Roosevelt, and only on matters that pertained to him.

The Oxford History of the United States always does an excellent job of addressing any topic in American history but this book is truly one of the hallmarks. There are few books that cover the depression in the same rich and detailed way that Kennedy does. He manages to capture the people, the government and the social movements perfectly and gives a great sense for what happened to the American people during this time period. The war analysis is the right blend of politics and tactics that allows for a view of what is happening at the home front and abroad. He focuses on Europe and the Pacific giving good examples of how they impacted the united states and "Freed us from fear" allowing us to face a new world. This book is done in wonderful and rich prose that makes it easy to read. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a summary of this time period.

David Kennedy's "Freedom from Fear," the 9th volume of the Oxford History of the United States, is a generally exceptionally well researched history covering from the Great Depression to the end of World War II. In this book, Kennedy offers a summary and a synthesis of research by dozens of historians, as well as giving his own personal interpretations of key events and individuals.

I believe most of David Kennedy's interpretations and judgments are well reasoned. However, I disagree with his deemphasis upon the major decline in the stock market between late 1929 - 1931 as one of the main causes of the Great Depression.

Even more so I dissent very strongly with David Kennedy's suggestion the Roosevelt administration should have tried harder to avoid war with Japan by essentially appeasing Japanese aggression against China. To quote from his book, Kennedy writes on page 513: "Why not acquiesce, however complainingly, in the Japanese action in China, reopen at least limited trade with Japan..." Given the fact that Japanese aggression and atrocities in China were as bad or worse as Germany's in Europe by late 1941, I find Kennedy's opinion morally reprehensible.

In general, this is a very good book, covering social, economic, political and military history of the era. However, don't read "Freedom from Fear," expecting to learn much about cultural history in the United States between the Great Depression and World War II.

The book entitled "Freedom From Fear" was written with a deep insight into the elements of gradual change that eventually had a negative as well as a positive impact on the economic stability of the United States.The book places special emphasis on the Great Depression of 1929 under the Hoover administration.The book also focuses on FDR's struggle to develop federal programs under the New Deal in order to accomplish economic recovery during the depression years. FDR's first 100 days in office was spent developing plans for New Deal programs that would enable the masses to have three square meals a day, ample clothing ,and sufficient shelter.Freedom From Fear explores the obstacles that temporarily blocked the success of the New Deal federal agencies,especially in the agrarian South.The criteria and data was well researched in this book.For example,Franklin Roosevelt was exposed as having a hidden political agenda during his first term in office.It seems that FDR purposely ignored the economic and social reform demands of negroes because he was virtually afraid of offending his constituency in the South and their representatives in Congress. Many of these unresolved issues gave rise to the creation of a second New Deal during the Truman administration. The author of this book,David Kennedy,recognized Eleanor Roosevelt,FDR's wife as being a powerful,innovative force in FDR's private and public life. FDR was elected to the presidential office four times ,and Freedom from Fear brilliantly reports causes and effects of economic and social reform during the 1930s and 40s. This book is a historic masterpiece.It clearly traces a chronological path that strecthes from the late 1920s to the 40s that was filled with political,social,and economic chaos.The Freedom From Fear book is a pleasure to read, and it enables its readers to discover why the New Deal was an "economic necessity" after the Great Depression.

David M. Kennedy is an emeritus professor of history at Stanford. This book is one volume of an encyclopedic Oxford History of the United States. Professor Kennedy seems to be relatively neutral on the controversial subject of Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt. Hoover is portrayed neither as a blunderer nor as a reactionary. Many of Hoover's ideas were implemented when Roosevelt took office (such as the Emergency Banking Act, passed on a voice vote with no printed copy of the bill 4 days after Roosevelt's inauguration). Roosevelt is not described as a visionary who had all the answers. He seemed to be rather naive as a New York governor looking at national affairs from a new perspective. The book is well worth reading in the current recurrence of a New Depression

David Kennedy's book, "Freedom From Fear" is a monumental achievement of historical writing.
Covering the years from just before outbreak The Great Depression to the end of World War II and the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the author focuses on the impact which Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) had on America during this seminal period of our history, and how his influence still impacts on our country today.
"Freedom From Fear" is an extremely long book--over 900 pages in length--and the early chapters, detailing various aspects of The "New Deal" and the many agencies under the "New Deal" which F.D.R. helped establish, are a bit too detailed and not quite as interesting as the rest of the book. But none of the wealth of information which Kennedy gives is dull or uninteresting--and when Kennedy starts to write about the events that occurred in Europe and the Pacific during World WarII, his book becomes as enthralling as any novel.
A previous the store Reviewer faults Kennedy for being anti-Rosevelt and says that Kennedy feels "nothing Roosevelt did seems right." I wonder if we have read the same book! Kennedy is an obvious admirer of F.D.R. and does not hesitate to point out his many accomplishments and praise his ability as a politician and "visionary" in helping to draw so many conflicting elements in Congress and the country as a whole, together.
Kennedy DOES point out that Roosevelt kept many of his thoughts and motives to himself--and that even his closest friends didn't know always exactly what he was THINKING. But the fact remains that F.D.R. accomplished wonders in drawing our country together and restoring a "Faith in ourselves" as a nation, that was woefully lacking until he became president. Kennedy gives more than ample credit to Rosevelt's accomplishments, and is an impartial enough as a historian to also mention his weaknesses and faults. Fortunately for our country, his accomplishments far outweigh his weaknesses!
A further observation about this book, which I think should attract a wide readership and make his book appealing to all organization is superb! His writing is extremely clear and free of "pedanticism." His chapters, describing the various battles fought during World War II (i.e. The Battle of Midway; Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, etc.), are as riveting as any novel.Written as a historian, Kennedy still has a novelist's flair for bringing what he writes about to life on the printed page. The "facts" he presents are totally free from "colorization"--but the WAY he presents them is dramatic and thoroughly engrossing.
One of the most appealing aspects of his book is his "organization" of material. His accounts of the personalities of many of the world leaders described in his book are seemlessly interspersed with the history he is describing. His "profiles" of various leaders are gems of cogent brevity.
"Freedom From Fear" is historical writing at its best--detailed, always interesting--and dramatic in in impact. It amply deserves to win a Pulitzer Prize--which I hope it does!
Larry Auerbach, Las Vegas, NV

For years, what would eventually become the 2013 Kline Online Book of the Year has sat on a bookshelf, half-read, in my home office. I had started to read it about a decade ago, when I thought I was going to write an academic history of US agricultural policy for my Master's thesis at Johns Hopkins University. Both the book, and the idea for the thesis, were disregarded in time. While I would move on to another topic for Johns Hopkins, I would come back to the book in question; somewhat ironically, it was the first book I read for pleasure after finishing the writing of my Masters thesis.

David M. Kennedy is not a writer of history for the masses. An emeritus history professor from Stanford University, he is the principle author of the seminal Advanced Placement American history textbook, The American Pageant. Perhaps you've read it? Perhaps not. But his tome Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945 is a book that is worth the investment of time and intellectual energy to read.

In the book's 900+ pages, Kennedy deftly handles perhaps the most profound 15 years of America's history, the time period covering The Great Depression and World War II. Freedom brings home the idea to a modern audience with no memory of the event that the Great Depression wasn't simply an economic downturn, deeper but similar to what occurred in this country in 2008, but instead was an all-encompassing catastrophe that required a fundamental shift in the way the average American thought about money, employment, democracy, capitalism, and their very lives.

For perhaps only the second time in American history, large segments of the U.S. population began to wonder if America could even survive as a republic. Americans worried that the growth in material consumption that had driven the Roaring Twenties had reached its terminus and that there was nothing but long-term decline in store for the American economy. Reading Freedom, the modern reader smiles to think that many thought at the time that the human race had reached an economic and technological summit, that all great things had already been achieved and that as a result there was nowhere to go but down. The economic orderliness of European dictatorships like Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy began to look promising to some Americans, and never had communism looked so good to so many Americans.

Any book about the Depression and World War II must by necessity also be a biography of Franklin Roosevelt, for his leadership is the one constant throughout this era of complete upheaval. Kennedy's book takes us in great detail through Roosevelt's various attempts at tackling the Depression, all of which failed for one reason or another. Despite Roosevelt's many bureaucratic creations, the Depression's utter persistence frustrated Roosevelt to no end, and the book compels the modern reader to understand the depth of the Depression.

Roosevelt's legacy lies not with programs like the National Recovery Administration, whose Blue Eagle proudly adorned Main Street shop windows across the country, but with the notion that the federal government should, and would, play an increasingly hands-on role in managing the national economy, which up to that point had been at the whim of Adam Smith's invisible hand, and the laissez faire doctrines of oligarchs like J.P. Morgan. Roosevelt introduced the idea that the stock market should be regulated, that investors should know the financial facts of publicly traded companies. Roosevelt's Agricultural Adjustment Act, although largely nullified by the Supreme Court, also laid the groundwork for a heavy federal hand in American agriculture that lasts to this day. None of these programs ended the Depression, but they, along with social security, are its most durable legacy.

Much like the country at large in the late 1930s and early 1940s, Kennedy's book comes to life as he writes the story of the nation's awakening to the idea of another war in Europe. Roosevelt was artful in balancing the needs of European democracy (the United States would become the so-called "arsenal of democracy" before entering the fray) with domestic political considerations; Roosevelt took the country no farther than it was willing, for he acutely understood that alienating the nation would curb his war powers when he truly needed them.

Kennedy's descriptions of the invasion of Pearl Harbor, which take the reader into the cockpits of the Japanese Zeroes and the early morning beds of the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, warm the reader's blood in a way that few books of 900 pages can. The Freedom narrative also excels as the U.S. Navy takes to war on the seas of the Pacific, luring the pride of the Japanese Imperial Navy into a series of engagements that roundly favored American firepower; and to the island jungles of the Pacific, where adolescent Japanese boys shrieked their way towards face-to-face encounters with American Marines. For the modern reader, who might think World War II was a war of unmitigated and breezy American success, Kennedy's Freedom from Fear confirms in narrative color the real facts, that the American slog across the Pacific to reach the Japanese home islands and across Europe to strike at the heart of Naziism was brutal, and thoroughly worthy of modern study.

Roughly the first half of the book is focused entirely on the Depression, certainly a tough topic to cover in a way that does not bog down, but Kennedy manages it, and I frankly think Kennedy does a far superior job at the task than does Amity Shlaes in the much-heralded The Forgotten Man, which I also read this year. That is a fine piece of work, but I enjoyed Kennedy's book more. The second half, the war half as it were, is just incredible, benefiting as it does from the previous half establishing the national mood as we headed to war. As an obsessive reader of American history I enjoy all the books I read, but if I am to be honest, I can say that there aren't many 900 page books that are page-turners, the second half of Freedom from Fear is one of those books.

There is no doubt that the 2013 Kline Online Book of the Year is David Kennedy's Freedom from Fear.

2013 Honorable mentions:
Whose Names are Unknown Sanora Babb
Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of FDR H.W. Brands
Breach of Faith: The Fall of Richard Nixon Theodore H. White

Past winners:
2011: The Best and the Brightest David Halberstam
2012: The Fifties David Halberstam
2013: Freedom from Fear David M. Kennedy

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The book is exactly what it says it is, a general history of the United Stated during the Depression and WWII. I found myself wanting to know more about many topics than author wrote. This should be expected though as the nature of a book of this type though is that some topics must be treated in a rather cursory manner or left out all together. The book does provide a vivid portrait of the era and of the events and personalities that shaped it. After reading it, I can see why it won the Pulitzer prize!

As a former student of Professor Kennedy's at Stanford, I confess bias. Nevertheless, David illuminates America's past like no other historian, contemporary or past. He has a unique talent for captivating readers, setting the stage and making the reader feel they are at ringside. We often forget the ordeal and emotion of the Great Depression and World War II, the Fireside Chats, Pearl Harbor, D-Day, Roosevelt and Hiroshima. Kennedy has painstakingly researched this book, inserting commentaries from those who made history plus his own penetrating insights. You will find balance and fairness here, not partisan rhetoric or pedantry. Hoover was in many respects ahead of his time (although some accuse Kennedy wrongfully of a Stanford bias), McArthur knew how to stroke the PR machinery, Roosevelt was a shrewd politician, Churchill was a master manipulator, Stalin a man whose patience ran thin waiting for a promised Second Front. Other great portraits include John L. Lewis, Huey Long, Father Coughlin, General Patton ... what a great read! Buy this book!

One of the best-written histories I've read. In other hands this could have been just another tedious history of the '30s and '40s. Kennedy's historiography is meticulous and exhaustive but is never boring. I will read this one again.

Before long, scholars will be echoing the writing style of Dr. Kennedy because of "Freedom From Fear". From the development of the Roaring 20's to the nuclear finale of World War II, the book canvasses quite beautifully well the atmosphere that would eventually tear man against man, and ultimately a brief shock to all humanity. For the not-so-well educated in U.S. history, the book chronologically sequences the events so tellingly that it pars with the contemporary university classroom. It is a must read, and one mustn't be too far from a clock because an hour flies and sets one's temporality completely amiss. For 900 pages, the book's lack of in depth analysis of every event cannot be mistaken as anything less than superb; in fact, the key features of "Freedom From Fear" is its interconnectedness and well developed themes that feel so accidentally woven together to give the feeling of a novel. Truly, never lack the clock's usefulness because one cannot detail the inner workings of its make as the horologist nevertheless knows. This book converges and synthesizes, it develops events so as to read as the antithesis of an encyclopedia. This is the book's strength, purpose and major showcase -- it is, again, a real must read.

This book was used as the primary textbook for a history class I took this past Fall semester. It was easy to read because the writing flows easily across the page! Kennedy wrote a well-researched, finely-edited book about the 2 most traumatic periods in 20th century America, the Great Depression and World War II. His lengthy and thorough research on Herbert Hoover as President and the relationship between he and Franklin Roosevelt was very interesting and enlightening! I really enjoyed this book a great deal!

I would have guessed that this book was written by Rush Limbaugh or Ann Colter by its attempt to mislead and rewrite American history. Roosevelt the mental lightweight causes the Great Depression before he becomes president, is responsible for World War II with his weak foreign policy, and blunders through economic recovery with the New Deal. The hero is the misunderstood economic genius Herbert Hoover, whose policies later adopted by Roosevelt ultimately saves our nation. All of this wonderfully supported by the commentaries of Roosevelt's political enemies. This book is laughable and hopefully will not be taken seriously by anyone.

I've been working my way thru the oxford history of the US and this one wasn't one of my favorites. The first half of the book that delt with 1929 until the start of WWII was very insightful and interesting. The coverage of the war left me desiring more. I've read several of these oxford books now and they are usually page turners but this one felt heavy and just didn't seem to convey the history in usual flow from this editor. The thing I love about these books is the ability to uncover some real pearls of interesting facts.Well, it's still worth reading but not at the same level as the others.

In-depth analysis of political, economic, and social trends during a difficult time in our history. A laborious read, at best, but necessary to the serious reader seeking a bit of understanding outside of the common historical rhetoric. Presidents typically receive too much credit for change and too much blame for problems. FDR did not get us out of the Depression, WWII and the economic destruction of the rest of the world did.

"Freedom From fear" by David Kennedy is a highly respectable history book for the Great Depression and WWII era. Professor Kennedy filled this book with lots of quality research, as well as his own opinions on the Great Depression. In the beginning of this book, Kennedy begins with Herbert Hoover and how he did things "wrong", but then he turned to FDR who kept up with the changing economy at that time. Kennedy portrays FDR as powerful and willing for change. He was an inspiring character for those during the Depression. Further into the book, Kennedy devotes his research to the New Deal and the effects it had on the Depression. Kennedy did go into detail about the effects, but he should have researched more about the causes of the Depression. Even though this book seems to drag on at parts because of all the information thrown at the reader, it was Kennedy's writing style that made the book hard to put down. It was very enjoyable to read and we recommend it to any history lovers who want to learn more about the Depression.

I'm one of those people who enjoy historical fiction like The Triumph and the Glory, Exodus, or From Here to Eternity over history books, but Mr. Kennedy's Freedom From Fear is so well done that I not only bought a copy for my library, I read it too! That's high praise from someone who normally avoids nonfiction histories.

This book is an excellent historical analysis of Depression and WWII era America. The book is well-researched and well-written, and pays attention to political realities. The author also explores the social impacts of the changes the Depression and WWII brought to the lives of women and minorities. I would recommend this to anyone who would like a broad introduction to the history of the 30s and 40s.

It begins with a description of FDR, and his wife.
Many topics are unvaluable for a foreigner; you can't grasp what was the big depression unless you read this book.
I can regret there isn't much about Italy and Italians in Usa; well, some topics are more interesting, from a domestic point of view.
It makes you hungrier to know more about this period, like every good book of history should do; the bibliografy is very exaustive.

I picked this up for the depression history, which was excellent. It gels a lot of sequential events into a comprehensive, albeit long, history of the era. If you like history, this is the best work I have read, so far, of this era. Kennedy's observations on Roosevelt's statesmenship was tremendously insightful. The remainder of the book on the war was icing on very well baked cake.

As one who was born and lived in D.C. during this era,I was overwhelmed with the memories and drama of that period. Mr. Kennedy corrected several misunderstandings I had regarding Mr. Hoover (who,image aside,was a man of greatness), and corroberated many of my feelings and rememberances of the avuncular Mr. Roosevelt (our "2nd father"). Writing with significant skill and intelligence, Mr. Kennedy clarified complex issues such as the causes of the Great Depression and the cause and effect of the U.S. abandoning the gold standard. His depiction of the suffering of the unemployed was almost poetic. I really enjoyed this one.

David Kennedy's "Freedom from Fear" is a very uneven read. It is as if the section on the Depression was written by Kennedy and the section on WWII was assigned to a graduate assistant. The Depression segment is well enough done. It contains quite a bit of primary research, though Mr. Kennedy seems to have a political axe to grind.

Personally, I find it offensive when someone who claims to be a historian writes history and adds his own conclusions and value judgments. I'd rather add my own after hearing the history as plain as possible.

Though the first section of the book is good, it lacks good flow. The second section (WWII) is little more than an overview of other more complete histories. I really expected to hear more about "The American People in Depression and War". Instead we have a summary of various battles in the Pacific and in Europe. One chapter is spent on the home front which can be summarized with the benign comment that the American public had more luxuries than any time previously.

Mr. Kennedy did not fall into the trap of accusing Roosevelt of knowing of the proposed attack on Pearl Harbor, but he did get pulled into name calling when referring to Douglas MacArthur. His reference to "Dugout Doug" is unworthy of an accurate historian. Whatever MacArthur's personal failings and/or ego problems, he was fearless in battle. He was awarded 13 decorations for heroism, most of them in WWI. MacArthur's total campaign from Australia through the Phillipines was less costly in terms of casualties than the single European "Battle of the Bulge". Kennedy was more kind to another great ego, George Patton.

While an earlier book of Mr. Kennedy's was considered for the Pulitzer Prize, there is no danger of this book being seriously considered for the prize. I would suggest there are far better and more politically neutral histories available that cover this period, though possibly not in one volume.

Kennedy brings WWII to life better than any other author I have read. I would recommend this extremely well written book to both novice and historian. If you like history, this book will make you love it. Out of its 850 pages, very few are uninteresting.

This is an excellent book. My Father was born in 1918,weathered the Great Depression ,worked his way(on the railroad) thru the University of Wisconsin,graduated in 1942 and became a US Naval officer and spent 31/2 years in the Pacific ,on a destroyer,fighting the Japanese.This book gave me a lot of insight into the forces and times that shaped him into the man he became.He was part of the greatest generation. Oh,how lucky our country was to have these people ,when it needed them most. I lend this book to my friends that want a better understanding about how their folks grew up.

This is an interesting book, written from a liberal (in the current sense 2015) perspective. There are some factual errors, but it does give a valuable insight into a very important time in our history. It gives a lot of detail and omits and glosses over important points where they do not fit the agenda, nonetheless it is a worthwhile read.

After looking at all the extremely positive views of Freedom From Fear, it is with some trepidation that I offer some negative comments. This is a book that I really looked forward to reading and wanted very much to like. On the positive side, I must state that I learned a great deal, particularly about the depression, that I did not know. And I also certainly admire Dr. Kennedy for tackling such a massive project and condensing the results into a single volume. But therein, I think, lay the seeds of some of the difficulties. Specifically, I have three problems with it.
First, because he is trying to cover so much, the book ends up being just a broad survey and, of necessity, omits too much, and places too much reliance on secondary sources. This is probably inevitable considering the scope of the project and the vast literature available. Each chapter covers a particular theme, which makes the book look like a series of lectures or articles, rather than a unified whole.
Second, the book badly needed a good editing before publication. There are two problems here. The first is that stories are repeated, almost verbatim, in different chapters, and occasionally even within a single chapter. The second is that, in the areas with which I am familiar, I found numerous factual errors. To cite just three, at the battle of the Philippine Sea it was not Raymond Spruance, commander of the Fifth Fleet, who ordered the lights turned on for the returning aircraft, but Marc Mitscher, commander of the carrier groups. Again, it was not Thomas Kinkaid, commander of the Seventh Fleet, who "crossed the T" at Surigao Strait, but rather Jesse Oldendorf, who commanded the battleships and other fire support ships. But my favorite is the photo caption which refers to the horizontal stabilizer in the tail assembly of a B-17 as its "rear wing". If I'm able to spot these errors in areas with which I'm familiar, it makes me wonder about how many there may be in areas with which I'm not familiar.
My last criticism is the most important, and that deals with the tone of the book. As a couple of reviewers have mentioned, the author is negative about nearly everyone in the cast of characters, most especially about Roosevelt and Churchill. (Among the exceptions are Truman (who comes in only at the very end), Hopkins, and, most peculiarly, Stalin.) I suspect the problem may be that Dr. Kennedy is just too far removed from the events he describes. Everyone knew that Roosevelt and Churchill had faults and made mistakes. But they have to be viewed in the true context in which they lived and operated. They were both heroic figures who did the best they could in situations that few have ever experienced or could handle. ...

This is a GREAT book, even at its astounding length and girth. ANYONE who is interested in the Great Depression (Great Depression I, maybe?) should read this book. It's entertaining and exciting, with a great writing style that makes it a pleasure to read. Seriously, if you love American history and don't mind taking a while to read about the most important fifteen years of the twentieth century, buy Freedom From Fear.

Freedom from Fear places the Depression and the Second World War together for analysis. Kennedy does a great job placing these two events into prespective in relation to one another. The book is an easy read for study or pleasure. The information and notes are helpful for further study of the various areas. The only down fall is that the footnotes are at the bottom of each page, and not in end notes. So pay attention the the resources you might want to explore while reading the text.

An eye-opening account of who Hoover was. Early expectations of Roosevelt; his philosophy of government in contrast to Hoover's. IE, Roosevelt's refreshing eclectic, inclusive style. Perhaps more discussion of economics than the average person can handle. A long book - constant surprises. For those of us who lived through that era, or heard stories from parents and grandparents, this book sheds light on our own histories.

A complete and accurate rendering of American society and the trends that the Depression and the War had on everyday life for the masses. Throughout the book there are very detailed and colorful explanations that make this the must have for anyone who wants to know how typical Americans thought and behaved during the Roosevelt era. This book is a masterpiece and is the defining work for this particular era.

While this a very thorough and enlightening history of the Great Depression and the second World War, I grow weary of reading the author's political beliefs rather than getting an unbiased view of history, if such a thing exists. I realize that the popular notion is that FDR saved the country from the Depression, and that he may receive a bit too much credit for his role: it seems he really just helped us survive until WWII ended the Depression. I also realize that the people struggling through the Depression laid too much blame on Herbert Hoover, who in reality tried very hard to help, albeit in mostly unsuccessful ways. So I think the author is trying to stabilize our slightly skewed vision of history by emphasizing the forgotten good deeds of president Hoover and by tempering our excessive praise of FDR. However, his resultant explanation of history is skewed much too far in the opposite direction for the book to be tolerable. I appreciate his attempts to offer both sides of the story, but he's not offering both sides fairly: he quickly glazes over undisputed accomplishments of FDR, for instance, while spending pages describing Hoover's modest and failed attempts at reform. I cherish the information I'm learning here, but am just tired of the author's narrow-minded presentation of it.

I just finished reading this history, and found a lot of material I'd read before and some opinions unjustified by facts. Trying to cover everything resulted in a broad brush treatment derivative of secondary sources and repeating errors from those, and inclusion of out of date information.

Kennedy seems to fall into the cliche that the war ended the depression. Perhaps it ended the depression by forcing Roosevelt to relent on the "new deal" goal of grinding down capitalism to obtain "stability and fairness". The fact that America had the only intact industrial base at the end of the war had something to do with the postwar boom. See Jim Palmer's "FDR's Folly".FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression

His presentation of former AP reporter Lorena Hickock's reports of depression life are treated as objective, and ignore or do not mention her background with the Roosevelt family, particularly Eleanor.Empty Without You: The Intimate Letters Of Eleanor Roosevelt And Lorena Hickok

Would like to have seen more focus on political, economic, and home front life during the war.

Stalin seems to be the only leader who knew his goals and what he wanted to do (being an unprincipled absolute dictator gave him an advantage) Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar, and while the Soviet role is mentioned in driving the second front, it seems obvious based on the numbers and end results that they were the primary victor over Germany. The case is made that America supplied his forces, but this ignores the T34 tank and Sturmovik attack aircraft.PanzerBlitz

Churchill was a great wartime leader, but comes across as just waiting around for the Americans to save him.The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965

Roosevelt comes across as a duplicitous schemer who depended on his personal charm in dealing with Stalin and Churchill. Not too much on Roosevelt's personal life.Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life There's some interesting material the big 3 meetings at Casablanca An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943, Volume One of the Liberation Trilogy, TeheranStalin: Breaker of Nations,The Turning Point: Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill, and Chiang-Kai-Shek, 1943The Moscow, Cairo, and Teheran Conferences (Oxford Paperbacks).

There is a good treatment of the Nisei and internment of Japanese Americans, including the lies used to justify it, and Roosevelt seemed oblivious.By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans The idea that Roosevelt would campaign for a 4th term when he knew he was dying and not bring the vice president into his administration, and that the Democrats and press would let him, is difficult to understand or forgive. The US was lucky to get Truman. Imagine if Garner had been in office for the last term From Roosevelt to Truman: Potsdam, Hiroshima, and the Cold War.

The omitted recently revealed information about the second Japan Navy nuclear program in North Korea , Nazi shipment of nuclear material to Japan, and the rapid development of the Soviet nuclear program (from espionage in the Manhattan project and equipment captured from the NZ plant in Korea) show even after 50 years there are still secrets and throw into doubt a lot of discussion of the atomic bomb presented as complete and final fact on the matter.
[...]
[...]

This book is HUGE but a great read. It won the Pulitizer Prize and it is obvious why. Not only is it thoroughly researched but it is an easy read. The author's writing flows and he really brings the period to life. I highly recommend this for historians, history buffs, and anyone else.

This is a GREAT book, even at its astounding length and girth. ANYONE who is interested in the Great Depression (Great Depression I, maybe?) should read this book. It's entertaining and exciting, with a great writing style that makes it a pleasure to read. Seriously, if you love American history and don't mind taking a while to read about the most important fifteen years of the twentieth century, buy Freedom From Fear.

Freedom from Fear places the Depression and the Second World War together for analysis. Kennedy does a great job placing these two events into prespective in relation to one another. The book is an easy read for study or pleasure. The information and notes are helpful for further study of the various areas. The only down fall is that the footnotes are at the bottom of each page, and not in end notes. So pay attention the the resources you might want to explore while reading the text.

An eye-opening account of who Hoover was. Early expectations of Roosevelt; his philosophy of government in contrast to Hoover's. IE, Roosevelt's refreshing eclectic, inclusive style. Perhaps more discussion of economics than the average person can handle. A long book - constant surprises. For those of us who lived through that era, or heard stories from parents and grandparents, this book sheds light on our own histories.

A complete and accurate rendering of American society and the trends that the Depression and the War had on everyday life for the masses. Throughout the book there are very detailed and colorful explanations that make this the must have for anyone who wants to know how typical Americans thought and behaved during the Roosevelt era. This book is a masterpiece and is the defining work for this particular era.

While this a very thorough and enlightening history of the Great Depression and the second World War, I grow weary of reading the author's political beliefs rather than getting an unbiased view of history, if such a thing exists. I realize that the popular notion is that FDR saved the country from the Depression, and that he may receive a bit too much credit for his role: it seems he really just helped us survive until WWII ended the Depression. I also realize that the people struggling through the Depression laid too much blame on Herbert Hoover, who in reality tried very hard to help, albeit in mostly unsuccessful ways. So I think the author is trying to stabilize our slightly skewed vision of history by emphasizing the forgotten good deeds of president Hoover and by tempering our excessive praise of FDR. However, his resultant explanation of history is skewed much too far in the opposite direction for the book to be tolerable. I appreciate his attempts to offer both sides of the story, but he's not offering both sides fairly: he quickly glazes over undisputed accomplishments of FDR, for instance, while spending pages describing Hoover's modest and failed attempts at reform. I cherish the information I'm learning here, but am just tired of the author's narrow-minded presentation of it.

I just finished reading this history, and found a lot of material I'd read before and some opinions unjustified by facts. Trying to cover everything resulted in a broad brush treatment derivative of secondary sources and repeating errors from those, and inclusion of out of date information.

Kennedy seems to fall into the cliche that the war ended the depression. Perhaps it ended the depression by forcing Roosevelt to relent on the "new deal" goal of grinding down capitalism to obtain "stability and fairness". The fact that America had the only intact industrial base at the end of the war had something to do with the postwar boom. See Jim Palmer's "FDR's Folly".FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression

His presentation of former AP reporter Lorena Hickock's reports of depression life are treated as objective, and ignore or do not mention her background with the Roosevelt family, particularly Eleanor.Empty Without You: The Intimate Letters Of Eleanor Roosevelt And Lorena Hickok

Would like to have seen more focus on political, economic, and home front life during the war.

Stalin seems to be the only leader who knew his goals and what he wanted to do (being an unprincipled absolute dictator gave him an advantage) Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar, and while the Soviet role is mentioned in driving the second front, it seems obvious based on the numbers and end results that they were the primary victor over Germany. The case is made that America supplied his forces, but this ignores the T34 tank and Sturmovik attack aircraft.PanzerBlitz

Churchill was a great wartime leader, but comes across as just waiting around for the Americans to save him.The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965

Roosevelt comes across as a duplicitous schemer who depended on his personal charm in dealing with Stalin and Churchill. Not too much on Roosevelt's personal life.Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life There's some interesting material the big 3 meetings at Casablanca An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943, Volume One of the Liberation Trilogy, TeheranStalin: Breaker of Nations,The Turning Point: Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill, and Chiang-Kai-Shek, 1943The Moscow, Cairo, and Teheran Conferences (Oxford Paperbacks).

There is a good treatment of the Nisei and internment of Japanese Americans, including the lies used to justify it, and Roosevelt seemed oblivious.By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans The idea that Roosevelt would campaign for a 4th term when he knew he was dying and not bring the vice president into his administration, and that the Democrats and press would let him, is difficult to understand or forgive. The US was lucky to get Truman. Imagine if Garner had been in office for the last term From Roosevelt to Truman: Potsdam, Hiroshima, and the Cold War.

The omitted recently revealed information about the second Japan Navy nuclear program in North Korea , Nazi shipment of nuclear material to Japan, and the rapid development of the Soviet nuclear program (from espionage in the Manhattan project and equipment captured from the NZ plant in Korea) show even after 50 years there are still secrets and throw into doubt a lot of discussion of the atomic bomb presented as complete and final fact on the matter.
[...]
[...]

This book is HUGE but a great read. It won the Pulitizer Prize and it is obvious why. Not only is it thoroughly researched but it is an easy read. The author's writing flows and he really brings the period to life. I highly recommend this for historians, history buffs, and anyone else.

The author, David Kennedy, has succeeded in bringing a scholarly work in American history to the vast numbers of us ordinary history buffs for some informative and delightful reading. The story is told in an inspired prose which makes the events seem to have happened in the recent past where they touch our families and our souls.
My hat is off to DMK for this magnificent work.

A very well written and detailed account of The events leading up to the New Dead and the Second World war. Kennedy has written a high quality scholarly work which is so well written that iit makes for a good read.
I highly recommend it whether for scholarly use or for an interesting read.

This has got to be the best book of its kind--its account of the New Deal, while not as pro as I tend to view it, is well-balanced and probably more right than my view thereof. The account of the war is just very well-done, and the only reason one wants the book to end is because one wants to win the war. I cannot think of a single judgment he makes which seems to me to be wrong, tho I suppose specialists would not agree. This is a very good book

Let me begin by noting that for a work produced by an academic this book is very well written. It reads well and even though it is full of facts supported by references to published accounts and primary sources the author has managed to produce a strong narrative. As other reviewers have pointed out, Kennedy begins the book just before the beginning of the great depression The Great Depression and ends it with the the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

To sum up, we have a history book full of facts that reads well. So what is not to like?

Well, here is the problem. Facts on their own is not enough for a history book. They must be evaluated and interpreted by the historian. And that is where the book fails miserably. While some reviewers have argued that the book is too anti-Roosevelt it is clear that the author goes a long way to strengthen the FDR myth. He trumpets his his many accomplishments, his political skills, and praises FDR's ability to create programs that would support his `vision'. To help perpetuate the myth and hide FDR's failure Kennedy uses an old trick in saying that FDR's true thoughts and goals were not well known even to his friends and staff.

Got that last part? This allows the author to interpret the facts in the best light rather to have them stand on their own. This means that Kennedy can argue that FDR's failure to end the depression in his first two terms wasn't really a failure because FDR's more important goal was creating a new system that would be the foundation of a stronger future economy.

It actually gets worse. Kennedy attacks FDR from the left and claims that he did not spend enough money to get the country out of depression. On page 376 we read that Roosevelt, "remained reluctant to the end of the 1930s scale of compensatory spending to restore the economy to pre-Depression levels, let alone expand it." Later on, on page 857, we note that Kennedy believes that the Second World War gave FDR the excuse to increase the level of expenditures that would end the Depression and "clinched the Keynesian doctrine that government spending could underwrite prosperity."

This is the typical Keynesian argument that there is no economic problem that can't be fixed by government spending. The trouble is that history does not support the view. A far better account of this period can be found in Robert Higgs' great but neglected book, Depression, War, and Cold War: Challenging the Myths of Conflict and Prosperity (Independent Studies in Political Economy). Higgs uses the same set of facts and simple logic to show that FDR was an absolute failure. Unemployment did not go away because of a strong economy. It disappeared because many able bodied men were taken out of the work force and sent overseas to fight. And the standard of living did not improve for those left behind. While there was plenty of work, private consumption collapsed as government diverted scarce resources into the war effort. FDR never saw the Great Depression truly end; it finally ended in 1946 when government spending was cut by two thirds and private consumption and investment exploded. The irony is that the type of figures that Kennedy likes to cite would show 1946 to be a depressionary type year because the cut of government spending drove the reported GDP number much lower as money was not being spent abroad to finance war activities.

I will end this here. Read the book if you wish to get a typical view of FDR and his administration. After you are done check out Higgs's essays in the book cited above and take a look at, Out of Work: Unemployment and Government in Twentieth-Century America (Independent Institute Book),FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression,New Deal or Raw Deal?: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America,The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, of go to the August 2004 Journal of Political Economy and read the paper, "New Deal Policies and the Persistence of the Great Depression: A General Equilibrium Analysis," by Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian. It looks to me as if the tide is turning. While the court historians can create narratives to hide inconvenient truths that undermine the mythology surrounding supposed great presidents more and more writers are publishing clear accounts that expose those narratives as creative fiction. History is too important to leave it to the court historians. If you are interested do yourself a favour and think for yourselves.

I suppose I want to comment on the concept of freedom from fear. I do not think it is possible to be free of fear without first destroying all those whom you fear. Understand that the arms race was preceded by WW II, and we have been arming ourselves since to be free from fear. If all you are concerned about is freedom from fear then you will have very little freedom. Life is risky and is filled with many snares. You can try to remove the hazards but your life will be empty and suffocating if you would eliminate all things that would cause you fear. I hold freedom of fear suspect as it is not in the Bill of Rights. All I can advise is that you live with your fears. Courage is bearing your fears without making a prison for yourself or others.