Noble abstractions

"Noble Abstractions explores the meaning that World War II held for America's leading intellectuals - among them Henry Wallace, Freda Kirchwey, and Thomas Amlie - who were politically committed to Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. Described by liberals as "a democratic revolution" and "an international civil war between democracy and fascism," World War II, according to the liberals, promised far-reaching domestic and international political, economic, and social change. Frank A. Warren focuses on both these large hopes and the political and moral dilemmas that resulted when they conflicted with Roosevelt's conduct of the war." "Noble Abstractions makes a major contribution to the history of American liberalism by raising important questions about modern liberal intellectuals' willingness to invest political and moral capital in administrations that either do not share the same ideological commitments or are willing to sacrifice commitment to political expediency."--BOOK JACKET.