[ applause ] >> you are watching 48 hours of non-fiction writers and books on c-span's book. we are talking with james rose and looking at his new book "dupont circle". tell mew about the book. >> it is about young people, 20s and 30s, who came to washington on the eve of world war 1. and they all lived around dupont circle. they were all friend and in and out of each other's lives. franklin roosevelt, and his

wife, and many other important people. and most people don't make the connection between all of these people yet they were friends and very much involved in the league of nations formation and its collapse. and in the creation of the united nations. but it all began on dupont circle. >> did their social interaction start their political relationships or was it the other way around? >> they were what was called progressive. not what we call progressive. these were roosevelt progressive and came to washington to help him but stayed with woodrow wilson and getting involved in world war 1. and being in and out of the town for the next 50 years.

so they were really bonded more by political believes. and in fact they all hung out at one particular boarding house called the house of truth where they stayed up all night and argu argu argu argued politics and chased girls and drank. >> tell me more about the democrats coming to assist the republican roosevelt? >> he became a democrat so people wouldn't mistake him from his cousin who was the president. but he was pretty much unable to tell the difference in his believes. so too was the star of the era herbert hoover.

no one thinks of him as being a progressive, but he was the ideal progressive at the time. it is story about friendship as well. they argued with each other. chased each's wives. they smoked an awfully lot and created the united nations among other things. >> how did they assist each other in their careers? >> by getting jobs for each other, a. the ones in the media wrote editorials praising and criticizing each other. they fought with each other. they broke up. they got angry and wouldn't talk for years and then came back around. it was like a family

relationship. where you are nut sure you like the person but he is a relative. >> what drew you to this angry of history? how did you discover the group and decide to write about them? >> i was working on a book about the cia director and wanted to know where he began. and he began on dupont circle and i thought that is odd. his grandfather lived there. and he and foster went to law school there. everybody thinks they are harvard. but now, no. they were friends of franklin roosevelt and roosevelt used them both. and of course they went on to serve the next presidents. and so it is one of the things a

reader has oo do is drop our belief about democrats being one signed and republicans being another. because their idea of progressive was about as liberal as you will get into the 1920s and 1930s. there was a right wing that makes today's tea party look hippies. and that is what fascinated me. >> is there anything today remembering the houses where they lived? do we know where they are? >> we know where they were. most are gone. the house of truth still exist on 19th street. and it is being rehabed by its current owners. it is going to be a