Meta description: Best Eleanor Roosevelt biography picks include Blanche Wiesen Cook’s 3-volume set, Joseph Lash’s Pulitzer-winning Eleanor and Franklin, and David Michaelis’s 2020 Eleanor. Compare 5 books by length, focus, and awards.
What Is the Best Eleanor Roosevelt Biography?
Blanche Wiesen Cook’s 3-volume Eleanor Roosevelt is the most comprehensive Eleanor Roosevelt biography, and Joseph Lash’s Eleanor and Franklin won the Pulitzer Prize. Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 to 1962) was named Woman of the Century by the National Women’s Hall of Fame. David Michaelis’s Eleanor (2020) is the leading recent one-volume biography.
How Do the Top Eleanor Roosevelt Biographies Compare?
The table below compares 5 books about Eleanor Roosevelt. Each row names a book, and the columns give the author, format, and recognition.
| Book | Author | Format | Recognition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eleanor Roosevelt (1992 to 2016) | Blanche Wiesen Cook | 3 volumes, almost 2,000 pages | Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Volume 1) |
| Eleanor and Franklin (1971) | Joseph P. Lash | 1 volume, about 1,030 pages | Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award |
| Eleanor (2020) | David Michaelis | 1 volume, 704 pages | New York Times bestseller |
| The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt (1961) | Eleanor Roosevelt | 3 memoirs in 1 volume | First-person account |
| No Ordinary Time (1994) | Doris Kearns Goodwin | Franklin and Eleanor in World War II | Covers the Roosevelt White House |
Which Eleanor Roosevelt Biography Is the Most Comprehensive?
Blanche Wiesen Cook’s Eleanor Roosevelt is the most comprehensive biography, at almost 2,000 pages across 3 volumes. NPR critic Maureen Corrigan described the full work as monumental.
Key facts about the 3 volumes include:
- Volume 1 covers 1884 to 1933 and was published in 1992.
- Volume 2, The Defining Years, covers 1933 to 1938 and appeared in 1999.
- Volume 3, The War Years and After, covers 1939 to 1962 and was published in 2016.
- Volume 1 won the 1992 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography.
- Volume 3 was a New York Times Notable Book and one of NPR’s 10 Best Books of 2016.
The biography details a disputed relationship between Roosevelt and reporter Lorena Hickok.
Which Eleanor Roosevelt Biography Won the Pulitzer Prize?
Joseph Lash’s Eleanor and Franklin won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. W. W. Norton lists both awards under 1972. The book also won the Francis Parkman Prize of the Society of American Historians.
Lash worked as Roosevelt’s secretary and confidant. He served as her official biographer at the invitation of her son Elliott Roosevelt. The book draws on her personal papers and covers her life from her birth in 1884 to Franklin’s death in 1945.
What Does Lash’s Sequel Cover?
Eleanor: The Years Alone covers the 17 years after Franklin Roosevelt’s death in 1945. Topics include her United Nations work and her role in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The book was published in 1972 and runs 368 pages.
Which Eleanor Roosevelt Biography Is the Best Single-Volume Option?
David Michaelis’s Eleanor (2020) is the leading recent single-volume biography. Simon & Schuster published it on October 6, 2020, at 704 pages. Gail Collins of the New York Times called it the first major single-volume biography in more than half a century.
Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews both gave it starred reviews. Michaelis also wrote Schulz and Peanuts, a biography of Charles Schulz.
Which Book Gives Eleanor Roosevelt’s Own Account?
The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt gives her own account across 3 memoirs. The 1961 volume combines the following books:
- This Is My Story (1937), covering her life up to Franklin’s presidency
- This I Remember (1949), covering the White House years
- On My Own (1958), covering 1945 to shortly before her death
Which Book Covers Eleanor Roosevelt During World War II?
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s No Ordinary Time covers Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt during World War II. The 1994 book follows the inner workings of the Roosevelt White House and the home front.
How Can Readers Choose an Eleanor Roosevelt Biography?
Choose an Eleanor Roosevelt biography by matching book length and time period to reading goals. Four steps apply:
- Match book length to available reading time
- Match time period to interest, such as childhood, the White House, or the United Nations years
- Check award history, such as the Pulitzer Prize
- Compare author perspective, including biographers who knew Roosevelt personally
People Also Ask
What is the best biography of Eleanor Roosevelt?
Blanche Wiesen Cook’s 3-volume Eleanor Roosevelt is the most comprehensive biography.
Which Eleanor Roosevelt biography won a Pulitzer Prize?
Joseph Lash’s Eleanor and Franklin won the Pulitzer Prize.
What is the best one-volume Eleanor Roosevelt biography?
David Michaelis’s Eleanor (2020) is the leading recent one-volume biography.
Did Eleanor Roosevelt write an autobiography?
Eleanor Roosevelt wrote 3 memoirs that were combined as The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt in 1961.
How many pages is the Cook biography of Eleanor Roosevelt?
Blanche Wiesen Cook’s biography totals almost 2,000 pages across 3 volumes.
What Are the 5 Best Eleanor Roosevelt Biographies?
The 5 best Eleanor Roosevelt biographies, grouped by scope and format, are:
- Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook, for comprehensive coverage
- Eleanor and Franklin by Joseph P. Lash, for Pulitzer-winning coverage of her marriage and early life
- Eleanor by David Michaelis, for recent single-volume coverage
- The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt, for her own account
- No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin, for coverage of World War II
Sources: NPR review of Volume 3 by Maureen Corrigan (2016); John Jay College faculty page for Blanche Wiesen Cook; W. W. Norton author and title pages for Joseph P. Lash; National Park Service and Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project profile of Lash; Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews on Eleanor; Simon & Schuster; Marist College Eleanor Roosevelt reading list.