Winter War

"A crisp narrative of the four-month interregnum between Franklin D. Roosevelt's victory in November 1932 and his assumption of the presidency in March 1933."

"Rauchway paints a vivid picture of what that looks like as he describes the Herculean efforts of outgoing Herbert Hoover to thwart incoming Franklin Roosevelt's 'New Deal.'"

"Though scholars have not ignored those four months, the period was a spectacularly eventful one that deserves closer attention. Rauchway ... does just that in this lively, opinionated, and definitely not revisionist history."

"The book showcases strong scholarship, including deep engagement with archival materials, that a general audience can appreciate. This is an informative and readable history."

"Not since the secession winter of 1860-61 had American democracy seemed so imperiled. Yet the interregnum between Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt has been largely overlooked by historians. Eric Rauchway remedies this lack in a riveting, thought-provoking book that is especially valuable at a time when political emotions are again running high."

"Winter War is a vivid narrative about the critical debate that took place at the pit of the Great Depression between presidents with starkly different visions of the nation's future. You can hear the echoes of FDR vs. Hoover blaring out from every cable news channel today. Eric Rauchway, one of America's best political historians, has written a wise story about the past that anyone who cares about the divide between progressives and conservatives should read."

"Presidential transitions matter. This brilliant book describes how the transition from Herbert Hoover to Franklin Roosevelt changed the world, and how it almost did not happen. The author explains why the trenchant debates around the New Deal still resonate in our current partisanship. Every citizen concerned about political leadership should read this book."

"In this brilliant new book, Eric Rauchway provides powerful new insights about the making and the meaning of the New Deal. In the end, Winter War will change not just what we thought we knew about Hoover and Roosevelt, but how we have understood the origins of modern conservatism itself."