This unique and lively political history by the Washington historian and journalist James Srodes focuses on half a dozen young professionals born in the late 19th century who lived near one another On Dupont Circle (Counterpoint, $26). The group included Felix Frankfurter, Walter Lippmann, and the three Dulles siblings, John Foster, Allen, and Eleanor, all of whom would become prominent in their respective fields—as would Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, who also moved into the neighborhood in the pre-World War I era. Early progressives, their idealism fueled their efforts to create a better world. And if Roosevelt was disappointed by the compromises of the Treaty of Versailles, Srodes shows that these remarkable individuals’ unflagging belief in humanity is a legacy still very much alive today.
