The fascinating story of Franklin Roosevelt, the Greatest Generation, and the freedoms they won, is a “stirring, heady dose of American history by a…progressive thinker” (Kirkus Reviews).
On January 6, 1941, the Greatest Generation gave voice to its founding principles, the Four Freedoms: Freedom from want and from fear. Freedom of speech and religion. In the name of the Four Freedoms they fought the Great Depression. In the name of the Four Freedoms they defeated the Axis powers. In the process they made the United States the richest and most powerful country on Earth. And, despite a powerful, reactionary opposition, the men and women of the Greatest Generation made America freer, more equal, and more democratic than ever before.
Harvey Kaye gives passionate voice to the Greatest Generation and argues not only that the root of their “greatness” stemmed from their commitment to equality, change, and progressive politics, but why modern generations should follow their lead. In Kaye’s hands, history becomes a call for action. Now he retells this generation’s full story and reclaims their progressive influence throughout the twentieth century.
Through the words of civil rights protestors, authors, and congressmen, Kaye argues that the most progressive generation in America history not only stopped Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan, but made America and the world freer, more equal, and more democratic—and that modern generations only honor them by following their lead. The Fight for the Four Freedoms “will stir its intended audience, while illustrating what astute politicians and historians recognize: Political struggle is as much a battle over our past as it is over our present and future” (Cleveland Plain Dealer).
"No one has ever loved a nation more or spanked it harder for straying from its premise than Harvey Kaye. Read The Fight for the Four Freedoms. It contains the historical truths that will set America free."
"Harvey Kaye is the Indiana Jones of American historians. He claws his way into the past and returns with lost treasures. The Fight for the Four Freedoms is great history, as we've come to expect from Kaye. It tells a story that cannot be forgotten, of a visionary president and the generation he inspired to renew America and save the world. But it is, as well, a roadmap that can get this country off its long detour and back on the path FDR charted toward that freer, more equal and democratic America."
“The Fight for The Four Freedoms reminds us that victory in World War II was measured not just in the defeat of America’s enemies, but also in securing the great progressive legacy of Franklin Roosevelt and the Greatest Generation: freedom from fear and want, freedom of speech and religion. As Kaye forcefully demonstrates, to safeguard, indeed broaden these freedoms is a challenge handed down to each later generation. This is a book by a patriot who invites his readers to share, to remember, to act and to be unafraid.”
"Timely and inspiring"
