FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, Man of Destiny

The biographer, in this case, defeats his own purpose of presenting Roosevelt as legend rather than man, by the excess of his adulation. He presents his hero-president, taking him from boyhood to death, with a wealth of intimate, family anecdote, and an unflagging attempt to paint all aspects of the portrait in rose-spectacled terms. A pleasant conversational style, a chronological accuracy, gives a warmth and easy flow to the narrative. But today even youth demands more objectivity in presentation of figures of national and international importance.