The Age of Roosevelt was Schlesinger’s most ambitious undertaking: a multi-volume narrative history of the Roosevelt era planned to cover from the end of World War I through Roosevelt’s death in 1945. Three volumes were published: The Crisis of the Old Order (1957), The Coming of the New Deal (1959), and The Politics of Upheaval (1960). Schlesinger never completed the remaining volumes — his involvement in the Kennedy administration and subsequent projects intervened.
The three published volumes cover the years 1919–1936: the collapse of the old Republican order in the 1920s, Roosevelt’s election and the first hundred days, the implementation of the New Deal’s major programs, and the political upheavals of the mid-1930s (Huey Long, Father Coughlin, the Liberty League). Schlesinger’s narrative is driven by personality and dramatic event rather than by institutional analysis — he writes political history as if it were a great novel, with FDR as the protagonist.
The interpretive framework is unapologetically liberal: the New Deal was not socialism (as the right charged) or insufficient (as the left argued) but the pragmatic application of democratic intelligence to economic crisis. Roosevelt saved capitalism from itself and preserved democracy when authoritarianism was triumphing elsewhere. This interpretation, standard for a generation, has been challenged from both left (the New Deal reinforced capitalism) and right (the New Deal extended government overreach) — but Schlesinger’s narrative power ensures the books remain compelling regardless of ideological position.
Collecting The Age of Roosevelt
First editions (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1957–1960): Three volumes, cloth with dust jackets.
Market values:
- Complete set, first editions, fine/fine: $200–$500
- Individual volumes, fine/fine: $50–$150 each
- Volume 1 alone: most common, $40–$100
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation for complete three-volume sets.
The Unfinished Masterpiece
The Age of Roosevelt refers to Schlesinger’s three-volume series — The Crisis of the Old Order (1957), The Coming of the New Deal (1958), and The Politics of Upheaval (1960) — covering the Roosevelt era from 1919 to 1936. Schlesinger planned additional volumes through FDR’s death in 1945 but never completed them. The three published volumes constitute the most important American political history of the mid-twentieth century. Complete sets in dust jacket are the primary collecting target.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is this sold both as individual volumes and as a set? The three volumes were published individually by Houghton Mifflin over three years and are most often found separately. Complete matched sets in fine dust jackets command a premium. No omnibus edition was published during Schlesinger’s lifetime.