I received a reviewer copy of Elizabeth Warren by Antonia Felix from the publisher Sourcebooks in exchange for an honest review. I should also put a disclaimer in here that I love Elizabeth Warren and am currently volunteering for her campaign, so I am a huge fan so take my opinion as you will.

What It’s About: This book traces Elizabeth's life from her childhood up until her 'Nevertheless she persisted' moment in 2017. But it largely focuses on her life prior to her political life. This book is quite favorable to her.

What I Loved: I loved this book because I learned so much about Elizabeth's life and it is quite a life. It really illustrated her rise from a middle class family to a senator. As an academic, I was so touched by her passion for her work and how she went in expecting to see one thing and then realized how wrong she was and how that completely changed the trajectory of her life. This book introduces you to a persistent woman who whether you agree with her is motivated by trying to fix a problem she knows a lot about.

What I didn’t like so much: I wish that the controversy of native heritage had been more thoroughly explored, Felix provides context into the history and why Elizabeth is not alone in believing she had native heritage based on the history of Oklahoma. However, this discussion I felt like should have been a chapter and elevated more native voices. However, it still provides some information as to why this isn't the scandal the right makes it but would have been stronger with a bit more information. Also I have to say this book made me feel like I should have read Elizabeth's own memoir because I felt like the author wasn't necessarily challenging her subject.

Who Should Read It: People who vote. People who like Elizabeth Warren. People who want to learn more about Elizabeth Warren's career.

General Summary: A biography of Elizabeth Warren

I have to admit I did not know very much about Elizabeth Warren when I requested this book for review. As it turns out, I am very glad I did choose her biography. The book details her childhood and development into the powerhouse she is today. At a time when women were expected to go with the flow of society's expectation of their secondary role, Elizabeth Warren had her own views and goals for her life. There were times that her career path took the back burner but it is impossible to keep such a motivated and intelligent individual away for long.
It was fascinating to see where some of her most personal values developed and also the many ways she enhanced her future skills as a public spokeswoman. It is a bit dry at times but then again, this is a biography and not contemporary fiction. Recommended to those who would like to learn more about the woman behind the academic/politician.

A well-written book on the life of Elizabeth Warren also hailed as the champion of American middle class. Coming from a low-income household, Warren youngest of four children from Oklahoma City, she has fought her way through to the top echelons of American political decision-making. Its never easy to break into the glass ceiling of American politics dominated by alpha males, but her life shines like a beacon for every other woman to do the same and change the male-dominated US politics.

My rating -4/5

Antonia Felix does a wonderful job of describing the life, work and though process of Elizabeth Warren. The book starts at the beginning of her childhood and continues right through to current times in the Senate. I was struck by her upbringing, her intelligence and perseverance, and her beliefs. She is much different than she is portrayed by her opponents and even by her supporters. She is progressive but not a Democratic socialist, and I think has more in common with the average American than she is given credit for. I highly recommend the read, especially if you are interested in learning more about potential Democratic 2020 nominees.

I read [A Fighting Chance by Elizabeth Warren I found much of the same material. Funny enough, Felix does have more details on Elisabeth Warren's background and family history than Warren's own book. This is a biography and you can tell the author liked her subject. While the two books are similar with the material, there is more in this biography and I'm happy to have read both books.

This book also has more recent material where Warren's own book ends around the time she wins the Senate seat. Here we have a little of what's she's been working doing since getting into office. Warren is still working for the middle class to give it a fair share since it has for decades been skewed away from them and for the rich or corporations, particularly in favor of big banks. Bankruptcy law was where Warren found her niche and economics is everything.

About the ending material: There were several appendices that included an early article Warren wrote and several of her speeches, along with bibliography and index. Fantastic! Too often I find non-fiction books that leave some of these notes and sources and I do not like that trend. Happy to see these included and applaud the author and publisher for it.

Exhaustive and impressive in equal measure, this book goes into a lot of depth about Elizabeth Warren's life. I especially liked the detail about her Native American roots which stands up pretty well after Warren herself got a DNA test.

I am reading all books written by women Senators so I was thankful to receive this for review from the publisher and Net Galley. Thank you for the opportunity. My opinions are my own. The path of a woman Senator is never easy in today's white male dominated Congress patriarchy so I was fascinated to read the background and history of Senator Warren.

This is a excellent book with much information about the amazing background of Elizabeth Warren. She is a favorite political figure of mine and as a woman one of my most admired women on the political spectrum . To read about her background and abilities was a fascinating read. This is a woman of substance, who fights for real Americans and the issues that affect us. Knowing her politics it was uniquely American unto her and who she came from to understand how she has had to fight the patriarchy her entire career. Now as she enters the field for Presidential Candidate her strength, determination and fairness will serve her well. A wonderful book for all who admire this great lady. A great American and this book definitively is a must read.

“Elizabeth Warren: Her Fight. Her Work. Her Life.” (2018) authored by Antonia Felix, honors the career and life work of this outspoken champion for the middle class. There hasn’t been such influential politician since LBJ and his “War on Poverty” that has made the tireless commitment to advocate for the diminishing middle class and vast economic inequality that has shaped the fabric of American life and culture.

The youngest of four children from Oklahoma City, OK.-- Elizabeth had been aware of her family’s low income status from an early age. Hearing family stories from the Great Depression, her mother was forced to return to work after her father suffered a heart attack. Highly intelligent and ambitions, she prepared for college and married at nineteen to Jim Warren (m.1968-78) the couple had two children. It was particularly challenging to complete her education, establish her career and raise her children. Gratefully, Elizabeth enlisted the help of her family to help care for her children. Divorce increased her awareness of impoverished single mothers and the plight of disadvantaged low income families.

While teaching at the Houston School of Law she would receive the “Outstanding Teacher Award” (1981) the first of numerous awards that she earned during her teaching career. In July 1980, Elizabeth married Bruce Mann a fellow law professor. The couple had a great interest in bankruptcy law. Elizabeth realized that there were no research or studies available at the time to document financial failure. Elizabeth joined the Consumer Bankruptcy Project that for 6 years studied 250,000 pieces of information related to twenty four hundred bankruptcy filings. There were 400,000 people who filed bankruptcy in 1986, a decade later the figure was twice that number. These figures were alarming and Elizabeth would write several books concerned with the dire economic impact on middle class families and the reasons they were going broke. The reasons were not due to financial irresponsibility, but to low wage jobs, poor health and medical bills, divorce and family break-up, lack of housing, education, and affordable childcare.
After several years of commuting and teaching at different Universities, Elizabeth and Bruce finally attained tenured positions at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2006, Bruce encouraged Elizabeth to become the Carl F. Schippo Jr. professor of law at Harvard University. This would further her career and academic influence on public policy as she taught and challenged a new generation of students.

Felix covered the Great Recession and the financial collapse of 2008 exceptionally well, which is the best part of the book. Elizabeth had warned public officials of the risky subprime mortgages she called “hand grenades”-- that were relentlessly marketed to minorities and others with high amounts of debt and low incomes. Banking deregulation and repeal of the Glass Segal Act (1933) had increased the predatory lending practices that destroyed 20 trillion USD in financial assets of 9 million people who lost their homes and jobs. Congress offered billions of dollars in Troubled Asset Relief (TARP) to stabilize the economy. In 2009-10, according to the Center of Public Integrity corporate banking special interest groups spent 1.3 billion USD lobbying against financial and banking reform.

The book overall is an authorized version of Elizabeth Warren’s life and outstanding achievements. Elizabeth was appointed by President Barrack Obama in a presidential advisory position with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (2013). On the opposite end of the spectrum, Elizabeth was ridiculed by Donald Trump when he referred to her as “Pocahontas” (2018). With her powerful determination and resolve to serve the interests of Main Street over Wall Street, Elizabeth Warren remains a true American hero.** With thanks and appreciation to Source Books via NetGalley for the ADC for the purpose of review.

hThis is an interesting, well-written, and pro Elizabeth Warren book. However, despite the very favorable portrait of Elizabeth Warren, the book provides a lot of information about her. Whatever, one thinks of Elizabeth Warren's politics she is an interesting person in the history of women in politics. She was raised to be a housewife but is now a US senator and may run for US president. Like Bill Clinton she came from a humble Southern background where there was segregation. The book explains how she became a law professor and her involvement with trying to regulate the financial industry.

Even though the author skirmishes around much of the controversy around Elizabeth Warren, the book is a provocative and informative book about a major politician.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Elizabeth Warren by Antonia Felix can be classified as a brief biography of Elizabeth Warren with considerable pages devoted to Warren's work in the field of consumer financial protection. You can almost get a clear picture of the field of Consumer Financial Protection work if you are not familiar with it by reading this book. The material is built on the books Warren authored and co-authored with her daughter and other law professors while she was teaching at various law schools.
As far as the biography part goes, it does a good job giving the readers a succinct portrait of Warren's personal and professional life. If you are a Warren fan or simply deciding to support if she throws her name in the hat for presidential nomination in 2020, this book might give you information to help you make informed decision.

Overall, this is a quick and interesting read. Some parts can be boring especially where the author belabors on Warren's work on consumer financial protection work. I think you can skip those pages without missing much or loosing the gist of the matter.

Having already read Warren's own (extremely well-written and entertaining) memoir "A Fighting Chance," I wondered what more could be said. I hoped this book would contain, for example, interviews with people who grew up with her, and went into more depth about her formative years, and it does exactly that! Well done! It was especially interesting learning about Warren's gradual conversion from a conservative Oklahoma teenager to a Massachusetts progressive.

There were a few minor factual errors that I hope the publisher will correct when this goes to print, and the ending seemed rushed compared to the rest of the well-researched book, but those can hopefully be fixed. I still preferred hearing Warren's own words in "A Fighting Chance" (there's nothing quite like someone telling their own story), but someone like her deserves a more "serious" biography, and this is it!

Quite possibly the best biography written this year, Elizabeth Warren is simply a fascinating read about a fascinating woman. Well researched and smoothly written, this biography shows the reader why Senator Warren speaks for us all. A great legal mind, she started out as a lower middle class high schooler with great debate skills. I am proud to call her a fellow Speech Language Pathologist, even though, sadly for us, she didn't remain in the profession.
The book shows the struggle of being female in a male dominated world of law in the 60's and 70's and how, in spite of everything working against her with babies and day care issues, she managed to rise in academia to make a difference.
I adored the book, will likely reread it, and know that there are a few good politicians left. The author has provided us with her life so far. I for one, hope that we can add her name to a list of another male dominated society. President of the United States.

Thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks, and #NetGalley for a pre-publication ebook in exchange for an honest review.