Mr. Book just finished Fear Itself: The New Deal And The Origins Of Our Time, by Ira Katzelson.

Mr. Book had given this author’s book When Affirmative Action Was White an A. This book was not up to that standard.

The author’s other book was how southern members of Congress were able to shape the New Deal. There was some of that in this book, too. But, despite what it purported to be, this was not a book about the New Deal. Instead, I think the author realized that a lot of other things happened during Roosevelt’s time in office and decided to write about them. Maybe he just had a lot of leftover notes that didn’t fit in the first book, maybe not.

If you’re looking for a book on the New Deal, this definitely isn’t for you. But, if you’re looking for a book on randomly put together unrelated chapters on other things happening mostly in the United States, but sometimes internationally, then this book might interest it. But, even then, I’d only rate it as a B if it is reclassified as that. There were so many other books covering that time period that did a better job.

I am dropping the reclassified book’s grade to C due to the random unrelatedness of most chapters. Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a C equates to 2 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

I had added this book to my library at Audible, since it was one of the books available for free. I have just deleted it that library. There is no need for me to waste my time again on this one. It wasn’t a bad book, but it’s not the time to listen to it.

This review has been posted at my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews, and Goodreads.

Mr. Book originally finished reading this on August 1, 2024.