Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the third and final volume of renowned feminist historian Blanche Weisen Cook's biography of Eleanor Roosevelt.

A 14-biography of Theodore, Eleanor and Franklin Delano starts Sunday. Actors including Paul Giamatti and Meryl Streep put on Emmy-worthy vocal performances reading from an Emmy-worthy script.

In The Man He Became, historian James Tobin says, despite misimpressions to the contrary, Americans of Franklin Roosevelt's day were well-aware of his disability — it was an important part of the personal narrative that helped him win the presidency.

The Roosevelts' unorthodox marriage was equitable, sexually open — and spanned four decades. Hazel Rowley profiles the uncommon union of a four-term president and his first lady in Franklin And Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage.

Edna Gurewitsch is the wife of the late Dr David Gurewitsch who was Eleanor Roosevelt personal physician from 1945 to her death in 1962. Gurewitsch has written a new book about the close personal relationship that developed between her husband and the former first lady, Kindred Souls: Eleanor Roosevelt and David Gurewitsch, 1945-1962 (St. Martin press). Dr Gurewitsch was a handsome, compassionate man, 18 years younger than Mrs Roosevelt, and she feel in love with him. He didn share those feelings, but they maintained a friendship of devotion and respect.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews No Ordinary Time (Simon and Schuster) by Doris Kearns Goodwin and Babe (University of Illinois Press) by Susan E. Cayleff.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume One, 1884-1933" by Blanche Wiesen Cook (Viking press).

The new president of the National Organization for Women, now in her 70s, joins Fresh Air to discuss her lifelong awareness of women's second-class status, which fueled her political activism. She hopes to use NOW to support more women running for elected office.

Blanche Wiesen Cook is the author of the new biography "Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume 2 1933-1938. (Viking) This edition covers The Great Depression, the New Deal, and the build-up to World War II. Cook a professor of history at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. She is author of "Eleanor Roosevelt," "Crystal Eastman on Women and Revolution," and "The Declassified Eisenhower."