Reconsidering Roosevelt on Race : How the Presidency Paved the Road to Brown

Rating:
Summary: Excellent scholarship
Review: This fine book will interest students of supreme court decisionmaking. Those interested in the presidency, the New Deal and/or the evolution of civil rights policy will benefit from reading this book.

Specialists will enjoy the academic perspectives. General readers can learn a lot of history because the book is not suffocated by the jargon that harms many university press books.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting read about an important era
Review: This well written book will be enjoyed by a variety of readers. It presents a fascinating account of important political struggles in the New Deal era. While focused on judicial politics and civil rights, it covers many aspects of American politics in the Roosevelt era. The book refutes the notion that FDR did not advance the cause of civil rights. Through judicial appointments and the creation of the Civil Rights Section of the Justice Department, FDR sought to undermine white supremacy in the South. The author argues convincingly that the Roosevelt administration did much to engender the Brown v. Board of Education decision that changed America forever.

This book will be most valuable to those interested in American politics, history, and race relations.