The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers: The Human Rights Year, 1945-1948

This two-part work, the first of five volumes reproducing Eleanor Roosevelt's papers and edited by Black (history and international affairs, George Washington U.), reproduces and annotates 410 documents of Eleanor Roosevelt's from the period between Franklin Delano Roosevelt's death and the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a period in which Eleanor emerged as a significant political force for the promotion of liberal human rights. The documents illustrate her engagement with the Truman administration, the Soviet Union, and others over the promotion of human rights and her work as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. The material includes correspondence to and from Eleanor Roosevelt, the diary she kept during the first session of the General Assembly; material she wrote for publication in newspapers, national magazines, and organizational newsletters; public statements; and government and UN documents. Annotations come in the forms of headnotes, endnotes, biographical portraits, and a chronology and are intended to assist the non-specialist in understanding the issues addressed by the documents. The headnotes and endnotes frequently include excerpts from other related documents in order to more fully illustrate the pertinent issues. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)