The Wars of the Roosevelts - by William J Mann (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The award-winning author presents a provocative, thoroughly modern revisionist biographical history of one of America's greatest and most influential families--the Roosevelts--exposing heretofore unknown family secrets and detailing complex family rivalries with his signature cinematic flair.

Drawing on previously hidden historical documents and interviews with the long-silent "illegitimate" branch of the family, William J. Mann paints an elegant, meticulously researched, and groundbreaking group portrait of this legendary family. Mann argues that the Roosevelts' rise to power and prestige was actually driven by a series of intense personal contest that at times devolved into blood sport. His compelling and eye-opening masterwork is the story of a family at war with itself, of social Darwinism at its most ruthless--in which the strong devoured the weak and repudiated the inconvenient.

Mann focuses on Eleanor Roosevelt, who, he argues, experienced this brutality firsthand, witnessing her Uncle Theodore cruelly destroy her father, Elliott--his brother and bitter rival--for political expediency. Mann presents a fascinating alternate picture of Eleanor, contending that this "worshipful niece" in fact bore a grudge against TR for the rest of her life, and dares to tell the truth about her intimate relationships without obfuscations, explanations, or labels.

Mann also brings into focus Eleanor's cousins, TR's children, whose stories propelled the family rivalry but have never before been fully chronicled, as well as her illegitimate half-brother, Elliott Roosevelt Mann, who inherited his family's ambition and skill without their name and privilege. Growing up in poverty just miles from his wealthy relatives, Elliott Mann embodied the American Dream, rising to middle-class prosperity and enjoying one of the very few happy, long-term marriages in the Roosevelt saga. For the first time, The Wars of the Roosevelts also includes the stories of Elliott's daughter and grandchildren, and never-before-seen photographs from their archives.

Deeply psychological and finely rendered, illustrated with sixteen pages of black-and-white photographs, The Wars of the Roosevelts illuminates not only the enviable strengths but also the profound shame of this remarkable and influential family.

From the Back Cover

Drawing on previously hidden historical documents and interviews with the long-silent "illegitimate" branch of the family, William J. Mann paints an elegant, meticulously researched, and groundbreaking group portrait of this legendary family. Mann deftly argues that the Roosevelts' rise to power and prestige was actually driven by a series of intense personal contests that at times devolved into blood sport.

Central to The Wars of the Roosevelts is a fascinating alternate picture of Eleanor Roosevelt, who, Mann argues, experienced this brutality firsthand, witnessing her uncle Theodore cruelly destroy her father, Elliott Theodore's brother and bitter rival for political expediency. Eleanor bore a grudge against TR for the rest of her life. In addition, her intimate relationships with both men and women are handled here with a sensibility grounded in twenty-first-century awareness, without any obfuscations, explanations, or labels.

Mann also brilliantly brings into focus Eleanor's cousins, TR's children Alice, Ted, and Kermit whose stories propelled the family rivalry (especially once Franklin became president) but have never before been fully chronicled. We also learn for the first time the story of Eleanor's illegitimate half-brother, Elliott Roosevelt Mann, who inherited his family's ambition and skills without their name and privilege, and whom TR did his best to exile.

Illustrated with never-before-seen photographs from Elliott's archives, The Wars of the Roosevelts is a deeply psychological and finely rendered history, illuminating not only the enviable strengths but also the profound shame of this remarkable and influential family.

Review Quotes

Praise for Tinseltown: "Tinseltown does a fine job of parceling out its complex plot, and its author brings early Hollywood to life with the flair of a popular historian." - Wall Street Journal
"[Mann] brings the early days of the movie industry to sparkling life on the page, whether he's evoking Los Angeles' demimonde or explaining how the era's scandals drove the film industry toward protectionism in the face of morality campaigns." - NPR, The Best Books of 2014
"Mann's call sheet of colorful characters is so richly painted, they not only make the Roaring '20s come to life, they're so bizarre they seem like they could only exist in a movie." - Entertainment Weekly
"A compulsively readable account of the decades long rivalries, grudges, and battles between and within the Roosevelt families of Oyster Bay and Hyde Park. . . . . Perhaps best known for his popular film biographies and histories, and thus no stranger to tales of scandal and cover up, feuds and intrigue, Mann writes sympathetically about all the Roosevelts but particularly the black sheep, the nonconformists whose births into this powerful family imposed special burdens." - Kirkus, Starred Review