1932: The Rise of Hitler and FDR--Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny

Nominated for the American Library Association (ALA)'s Notable Books Council's 2015 Notable Books List Two Depression-battered nations confront their destiny in 1932, going to the polls in their own way to anoint new leaders, to rescue their people from starvation and hopelessness. America elects a Congress and a president--ebullient aristocrat Franklin Roosevelt or tarnished "Wonder Boy" Herbert Hoover. Decadent, divided Weimar Germany suffers two rounds of bloody Reichstag elections and two presidential contests--doddering reactionary Paul von Hindenburg against rising radical hate-monger Adolf Hitler. The outcome seemed foreordained--unstoppable forces advancing upon crumbled, disoriented societies. A merciless Great Depression brought greater--perhaps hopeful, perhaps deadly--transformation: FDR's New Deal and Hitler's Third Reich. But neither outcome was inevitable. by : David Pietrusza