Customer Reviews (1)

Are You Ready to Meet Thedore Roosevelt? Read Wagenknecht
Other than--perhaps--in 1910, was there ever a more auspicious time to listen to the lessons of Theodore Roosevelt?

TR's project of leadership, service and national character are sorely needed today.

Just in time there's a new release of a neglected classic, The Seven Worlds of Theodore Roosevelt, by Edward Wagenknecht.

This remarkable volume was initially released in 1958, the centennial of TR's birth. It takes the reader through the various worlds which Roosevelt inhabited (and, in some cases, shaped): The Worlds of Action, Thought, Human Relations, Family, Spiritual Values, Public Affairs, and War & Peace.

More than any other single book I know, Seven Worlds gives the reader a comprehensive view of the extraordinary life of one of America's greatest, most enduring leaders.

... Read more

Product Description
The Attempted Assassination of ex-President Theodore Roosevelt. please visit www.valdebooks.com for a full list of titles ... Read more

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What Hath TR Wrought?

“I don’t think that any harm comes from the concentration of power in one man’s hands.” —Theodore Roosevelt

The notion that Theodore Roosevelt was one of America’s greatest presidents is literally carved in stone—right up there on Mount Rushmore. But as historian Jim Powell shows in the refreshingly original Bully Boy, Roosevelt’s toothy grin, outsized personality, colossal energy, and fascinating life story have obscured what he actually did as president.

And what Roosevelt did severely damaged the United States.

Until now, no historian has thoroughly rebutted the adulation so widely accorded to TR. Powell digs beneath the surface to expose the harm Roosevelt did to the country in his own era. More important, he examines the lasting consequences of Roosevelt’s actions—the legacies of big government, expanded presidential power, and foreign interventionism that plague us today.

Bully Boy reveals:

• How Roosevelt, the celebrated “trust-buster,” actually promoted monopolies

• How this self-proclaimed champion of conservation caused untold environmental destruction

• How TR expanded presidential power and brought us big government

• How he heralded in the era of government regulation, handicapping employers, destroying jobs, and harming consumers

• How he established the dangerous precedent of pushing America into other people’s wars even when our own national interests aren’t at stake

• How this crusader for “pure food” launched loony campaigns against margarine, corn syrup, and Coca-Cola

• How Roosevelt inspired the campaign to enact a federal income tax that was supposedly a tax on the rich but became a people’s tax

Bully Boy is both a groundbreaking look at a pivotal time in America’s history and a powerful explanation of how so many of our modern troubles began. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Authors Lack Of Understanding Is Immense
As a historian and economist the times Roosevelt lived in were dramatically tilted toward the industrialists with an immense amount of power and do what you want attitude.As a Republican I am for less government but not no government and that is the situation Roosevelt found himself in.His chief accomplishments set a precedent for latter governmental powers expansion but any rational person aware of the situation on the ground at the time would respect that the overwhelming bulk of the steps he took were completely necessary.
Sometimes it is good to read mediocre works because they challenge your knowledge, force you to dig into the facts and learn but then again this is an embarrasingly off the mark book and should be shouted down in bully boy fashion for the foolish among us will take it for truth.

Good look at TR
A great review of TR, his idea's, and their consequences. Systematically shows how TR was in fact not one of the greatest presidents of the US, but in fact a disaster. More depth would have been nice in certain areas, but a good intro to TR.

An Historical Look at the Consequences of Teddy Roosevelt's Politics
After reading Jim Powell's book FDR's Folly, I wasn't sure I wanted to follow that one by reading Bully Boy, Powell's critique of Theodore Roosevelt's political life. So, I thought I'd give my brain a rest and just check it out of the library and do a mild overview. Unfortunately, you can't read a Powell book like that, so after reading just the introduction, I was hooked.

Powell's view point in Bully Boy is similar to that in FDR's Folly, but a little less detailed. He provides a strong chronological look at T. Roosevelt's entire political career, with his major focus on its consequences, especially during Roosevelt's presidency.

One area that evidently eluded me during my years in school was the fact that T. Roosevelt was a Republican (pretty much in name only), but his politics were radical, liberal and progressive. As a result, he believed in a huge, powerful central government, led by a president who has a lot of individual power at his disposal. Roosevelt felt America's involvement in war was the noblest of endeavors, and as an aggressive expansionist president, continuously involved the American military in senseless, imperialistic takeovers of foreign governments like the Hawaiian Islands, Panama, Cuba, the Philippines, and even eyed countries in South America, even though not a single one of these military actions involved the national security of the United States. And many, if not most of these conflicts were done without Constitutionally mandated congressional approval. As the president, Roosevelt felt he had the power and the right to commit American military forces anywhere he deemed them necessary, and without anyone's approval.

Powell asserts that Roosevelt's famous "trust-buster" reputation was a sham. As president, he created governmental monopolies, while damaging America's free-trade economy and harming consumers by the use of tariffs, breaking up of worthwhile businesses, and resurrecting the dreaded income tax.

Bully Boy is a compelling, well-documented, and controversial book. Regardless of your view point, Powell has written another thought-provoking volume, worthy of serious consideration. The end notes and bibliography in this book are a gold mine of historical information.

Whether you love and admire Teddy Roosevelt, or can't wait for his face to be sand-blasted off of Mount Rushmore, Jim Powell's book "Bully Boy" is truly a worthwhile read. All I ask is that if you're going to write a review or add comments to another "Bully Boy" review, please respect the author, Amazon.com, and the other reviewers by at least reading the book, the entire book, and also please refrain from spilling your ideological guts out all over Powell and the rest of us instead of adding a beneficial and thoughtful review.

Good but Not as Good as FDR's Folly
Although I consider myself very much pro-laissez faire capitalism, a few of the chapters in this book are not very convincing, which detracts from the overall utility of the book. However, it is still one of the few books that critiques the Theodore Roosevelt Administration (henceforth T.R.) from a pro-laissez-faire capitalist perspective, and is therefore still worth reading.

T.R. became president at a crucial turning point in U.S. history. At this time, there was a raging political debate between Classical Liberalism and Progressivism. Classical Liberalism was the idea of the Founding Fathers, which essentially argues that the proper role of the Federal government is largely to protect civil liberties to allow all citizens to pursue happiness. Progressivism encouraged the federal government to serve as an advocate for the weak and take a more active role in public affairs for the "greater good" of society. Unfortunately, with T.R., Progressivism won, which set numerous political precedents for government regulations in business, food, medicine, the environment and just about every other facet of public life. Since the T.R. was a *decisive* victory for Progressivism over Classical Liberalism, this makes T.R. arguably the worst president in U.S. history.

Although Powell seems to miss the broad philosophical turning point described above, he does identify a large collection of loathsome policies of T.R. The chapter on "trust busting", which describes the dissolution of Northern Securities and Standard Oil and the subsequent hampering of economic growth that resulted from anti-trust laws, is very good. Similarly, the chapter on the massive pricing regulations on the railroad industry and the crippling economic results is also very eye-opening. The chapter on food and drug regulations contains a lot of informative facts, such as the ludicrous campaign against Coca-Cola (well after cocaine was removed as an ingredient), but it is a little less convincing. The chapter on environmental regulation was probably the least convincing of these four.

Although Powell is very good at revealing how in many situations, the government regulations did not actually make consumer products safer or the environment cleaner in many situations, his argument seems to boil down to how these things inherently became less safe in every situation, because the government got involved. While this is certainly true in many situations, it is definitely not true in all, as there are legitimate cases of fraud or negligence in consumer products or pollution that the government should be involved in. Instead, Powell's argument would have been much more compelling to base his arguments on moral rights. For example, a chronically ill patient has the right to risk his life with a non-FDA-approved drug, if he indeed rationally perceives it to be his only hope to recovering.

Moreover, the chapter on Roosevelt's foreign policy is not persuasive. Roosevelt did indeed think that a country should routinely go to war to maintain national pride and would toughen men into "real men". This is indeed an alarming view for a Commander in Chief to have, since wars should be viewed as something a country is forced into to defend the rights of its citizens, not as a means to boost national moral. However, Powell goes well beyond this. Powell is heavily critical of the Panama Canal because its construction was made possible by a U.S. government backed revolution in Panama. While I think there can be a serious discussion on the propriety of this actions, to fixate on the fact that the Panama Canal was made possible by "interventionism" overlooks the prodigious achievement in civil engineering and international commerce that this canal truly represented. Furthermore, Powell labels T.R.'s handling of the Ion Perdicaris hostage situation as unnecessary interventionism, which overlooks how T.R.'s actions boldly declared that the U.S. would have zero tolerance for those who violate the rights of U.S. citizens overseas.

Overall, this is a good, but definitely not great, book on the Theodore Roosevelt administration from a pro-laissez-faire capitalist perspective.

It's all about the consequences...
In FDR's Folly, Jim Powell relied heavily on the work of empirical economists to draw conclusions about FDR and his policies.While contrary to other historians who have largely ignored economic studies of the great depression, Powell evaluated FDR and the New Deal based on the actual outcomes and consequences that they produced.In a similar vein, Powell documents the policies of TR in his new book, Bully Boy, and concludes that they largely did more harm than good.Specifically, Powell discusses the following in Bully Boy:

* How TR's regulations, tariff and "trust busting" policies harmed consumers

* How TR's foreign policy undermined the Monroe Doctrine and set precedents for future intervention in conflicts with no clear threat to U.S. security

* How TR's Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drugs Act were used predominately as special interest legislation and set the foundation for the future FDA "drug lag," which has killed thousands

* How TR's conservation policies were counterproductive

* How TR's tax policies help to establish the federal income tax

While Powell's assessment of TR cannot be found in most history books, Bully Boy is well researched and documented with approximately 29 pages of notes and a 21 page bibliography. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to people that either love or loathe TR.

Many people will obviously disagree with Powell's conclusions or will support the consequences and precedents of TR's policies that appear to trouble Powell.I look forward to reading both the positive and negative reviews of this book. My hope is that those who disagree with Powell can provide more substance than the ad hominem attacks (e.g. "smut," "garbage," "reactionary claptrap") and other rhetorical fallacies that were the main locus of criticism for FDR's Folly and Wilson's War
... Read more

Product Description
Volume: 3General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1894Original Publisher: G. P. Putnam's sonsSubjects: Mississippi River ValleyOhio River ValleyNorthwest, OldLouisianaKentuckyTennesseeHistory / United States / GeneralHistory / United States / State ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

You get what you pay for
Although there isn't a thing wrong with the content of the book, the publishing and editing format that was adopted in order to save money is atrocious.This particular publisher uses an insturment to scan the original book, and then prints what it reads 'as is'.I had not necessarily bought this edition for it's cost, but after I received it and looked back through the other options I had, I only saved two dollars.This is a book I intended on having on my bookshelf for generations to come.I have learned my lesson and will keep an eye out for these 'making books affordable' publishers.

Excellent descriptions of early frontier life
Before Roosevelt begins sensationalizing in the second volume, he describes the utter wilderness of the region and characterizes both the individual settlers and Indians who would play decisive roles in the settlement and migration of whites westward, and also gives sweeping portraits of the Indian nations encountered during our westward expansion. The hardships of the settlers due to the ruggedness of their new mountain home, their self-reliance, the cold winters, the need to fell forest for pasture and tillage, the daily peril of Indian attacks, and the distant relations with their origins to the east complete this wonderfully written and diversified study of early American frontier life.

A bully read, but patience helps....
Roosevelt does quite well to capture the essence of what went on during the period when the colonists began westward.The point made by the editor that it is indeed a wonder that this work was ever created at all is welltaken when one considers Roosevelt's involvement with so much else in hislife while he produced what, for the time, was a very scholarly opus.

Onemust be patient with the narrative; it tends to be choppy.One must alsobe patient with, or at least understanding of, TR's view of the world andespecially his notion of upon whom the greater glory of the westwardexpansion rests.

All in all, it is seemingly a must read (as is theentire series) for anyone having either an interest in the history of thistime, or an interest in TR and his works.

AGreatManWritesaGreatHistory
Theodore's Roosevelt's "The Winning of The West" volume one is unlike most modern histories. His is a story of the founding of the American Republic West of the Original 13. This volume is of the lateColonial Period. He is unafraid to make very harsh judgements, attackingboth the American Indians and the Pioneers, although it is clear who hefavours. He does have many prejudices, but, to be honest, most Historiansdo. President Roosevelt's were just of the less respected, today at least,kind. The whole series is very much worth reading, and is a worthyinvestment of capital and time.Ryan M. ... Read more

Product Description
Today's preeminent biographer for young people brings to life our colorful 26th president. Conservationist, hunter, family man, and politician, Teddy Roosevelt commanded the respect and admiration of many who marveled at his energy, drive and achievements. An ALA Notable Book. A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt
My fourth grade daughter read the book for a project on a president.Very factual information given in book.Order of organization in book is good for her age.The book has been fun for her to read and myself as well as I followed along with her.

Where have you gone, Teddy Roosevelt, our nation turns...
Jean Fritz is perhaps best known for her short picture book biographies of Revolutionary War Heroes.I was anxious to read this particular book, and to my great surprise found it to be much longe than her usual fare.Just the same, the book carries the same spirit and adept interesting writing Fritz has employed on her other ventures.I had some disappointments with this book, it's true, but all in all I think it's a fine biography and the best one out there for any kid interested (or required) in reading about our odd twenty-sixth President.

We begin with a small sickly boy.Young Teddy (a name he accepted but disliked) was asthmatic and, as a result, of poor constitution.Pressed by his adored father to make something of himself, Ted set about exercising and pushing himself so as to become strong and tough.This man was truly an embodiment of all that was masculine.As he grew he was continually obsessed with nature, and it was assumed that he would someday go into the field of naturalism.As it happened, Teddy got waylaid and after taking some law went into politics.What was to follow was a madcap series of election losses, faithful Republican supporters, and, in time, a war.

Now it is around the time that Fritz starts describing Teddy's involvement in the Spanish-American War that she loses me.What separates Fritz from James Giblin or Russell Freedman (two excellent historical biographers for children in their own right) is that she refuses to blame Teddy for anything.As a writer she obviously admires her subject, and you can see why.There was much to admire about the man.At the same time, however, this was a fairly war-hungry fella.Unlike Giblin, who has written such wonderful biographies as "Charles Lindbergh: A Human Hero", Fritz doesn't show the problems that came with Teddy's choices.There is little doubt to my mind that Teddy saw the Spanish-American War as a "just" war.There is also little doubt that it most certainly was NOT a just war.Even when it becomes clear that the American public was misled in its thinking that war was the only answer ("Remember the Maine" anyone?) and that Teddy was a part of that misinformation, Fritz ignores such controversial topics.And what of the muckrakers?Where's Teddy's famous dismissal of hard-hitting journalism?Too much is left unsaid or avoided in this book to allow it to be considered one of the great children's biographies out there.Additionally, one does have to take issue with Fritz's portrayal of the Native Americans.As a previous reviewer has pointed out, Fritz's facts (though she includes a lovely bibliography of sources) seem sketchy.

Which isn't to say there isn't a lot to love here.There are Fritz's thrilling tales of Mr. Roosevelt's life.As an author, she has packed a great deal of info into this book.Everything from ponies in the White House to the origin of the teddy bear is included here.Accompanying Fritz's narration are some great illustrations by Mike Wimmer.My objection to them might be that even when we are viewing a young 20-some year-old Teddy, the illustrations are clearly of an older man.How hard would it have been to erase the waddle on the twenty-three year old Ted?Even shots of our protagonist as a boy show him with his head almost completely turned away from the viewer.It would have been nice if Mr. Wimmer had had a little more confidence in his own artistic abilities.

On the whole, it's a nice book.I know I've talked it down and pointed out its inconsistencies, but in spite of my own personal feeling, Teddy Roosevelt is a subject well worthy of a biography.This, after all, was the pro-environment president.The president who fought against huge corporations and went head-to-head with J.P. Morgan.The times in which we live today could use another Theodore R.When big business is just as large as ever and the national parks Teddy created are threatened by drilling, we should look back at heroes like the one found in this book and remember that sometimes a single man can accomplish a lot in his day.

An Excellent Read!
This was such a joy to read.I just couldn't put the book down.I had no idea that Teddy Roosevelt had an affliction that he overcame, thanks in part to his ambitious father.

Until I read this book, I had no idea that Teddy Roosevelt thrived on adventure or that he collected specimens of animals.It's amazing that he managed to survive all of his adventures like he did being as sick as he was.Everything the man did was to test his endurance if not make history as well.

Now I understand his push for conserving the nation's natural resources.By the time he became president, there weren't many wild animals left or trees for that matter.At any rate, this book was fun to read, especially when Teddy Roosevelt climbed to the top of Mount Marcy before the death of McKinley.

It really amazed me how much energy the man had. Probably from all those treks out west when he was a boy to hunt or whatever.The gym his father built was nothing like what he faced on his many sojourns out west and to Africa.It made me dizzy to read about all those campaign stops and speeches.

At first, I thought this book a little slow when I read about his early life, but then it picked up when Teddy begin serving on various Civil Service jobs and eventually gaining the Vice-Presidency under McKinney and being elected to a second term as President afterward.

I highly recommend this book.

Bully for you, theodore roosevelt!
An excellent chidren's biography of theodore roosevelt, which will be enjoyed by people of all ages.My only criticism is that the books title should be 'Bully for you, theodore roosevelt,' instead of 'Bully for you, teddy roosevelt,' a name which to him was anathema.

Unacceptable historical errors
Although Jean Fritz is an award winning author of history books, she makes some serious errors in this book making it unacceptable for school libraries. I love her writing style and the way she relates many humorous stories of Teddy Roosevelt's childhood, but when she relates his western adventures her historical research is seriously lacking. She refers to how the Sioux Indians killed 10,000 buffalo a feat which would have been impossible since the tribe was totally defeated, low in numbers, and relegated to reservations in the time period she described, the late 1880s. White buffalo hunters, not Native Americans slaughtered buffalo for their tongues and left their carcasses to rot. The Sioux had a tremendous respect for nature and only hunted a few buffalo at a time, just enough to feed their tribal group.

These egregious fallacies make this book totally unacceptable. Children should be given historical sources that are accurate, not ones that perpetuate myths. It is unfortunate since the rest of the book is wonderful and with some judicious editing, this would be one of the best children's biographies of Roosevelt. ... Read more

Product Description
Theodore Roosevelt and World Orderpresents a new understanding of TR’s political philosophy while shedding light on some of today’s most vexing foreign policy dilemmas. Most know that Roosevelt served as New York police commissioner during the 1890s, warring on crime while sponsoring reforms that reflected his good-government convictions. Later Roosevelt became an accomplished diplomat. Yet it has escaped attention that TR’s perspectives on domestic and foreign affairs fused under the legal concept of"police power."

This gap in our understanding of Roosevelt’s career deserves to be filled. Why? TR is strikingly relevant to our own age. His era shares many features with that of the twenty-first century, notably growing economic interdependence, failed states unable or unwilling to discharge their sovereign responsibilities, and terrorism from an international anarchist movement that felled Roosevelt’s predecessor, William McKinley. Roosevelt exercised his concept of police power to manage the newly acquired Philippines and Cuba, to promote Panama’s independence from Colombia, and to defuse international crises in Venezuela and Morocco. Since the end of the Cold War, and especially in the post–9/11 era, American statesmen and academics have been grappling with the problem of how to buoy up world order. While not all of Roosevelt’s philosophy is applicable to today’s world, this book provides useful historical examples of international intervention and a powerful analytical tool for understanding how a great power should respond to world events. ... Read more

Product Description
Before he ascended to the highest office in the land as the United States’ youngest president, Theodore Roosevelt, with illustrations by Frederic Remington, though a New York City man born and bred, was a devotee of the Old West. In 1888, he published this charming ode to the American frontier, from the rewarding hard work of a rancher on the open plains to the pleasures of hunting the big game of mountains high. Today, the inimitable prose and infectious enthusiasm of Roosevelt’s writing here serves as much to limn a unique aspect of the character of the nation as it sings an elegy for a disappearing way of life. Includes numerous illustrations by Frederic Remington.Also available from Cosimo Classics: Roosevelt’s Letters to His Children, A Book-Lover’s Holidays in the Open, America and the World War, Through the Brazilian Wilderness and Papers on Natural History, The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses, and Historic Towns: New YorkPolitician and soldier, naturalist and historian, American icon THEODORE ROOSEVELT, (1858–1919) was 26th President of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909, and the first American to win a Nobel Prize, in 1906, when he was awarded the Peace Prize for mediating the Russo-Japanese War. He is the author of 35 books. ... Read more

Product Description
Pringle’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography not only chronicles the incidents that shaped Roosevelt’s career but also offers insight into the character and mind of this colorful american president. Index.
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Customer Reviews (10)

Just The Facts
I agree in general with some of the other reviews.I do not believe this biography to be the best I have read on TR but it does fill a niche.

Pringle's approach cannot be divorced from the era in which he wrote.In his day Historians supposed they were to be clinical and detached from their subject.There is no warmth in the writing and the great and small episodes in TR's life are dealt with in about equal measure.It is hard to justify the detail omitted in TR's pathway to San Juan hill in comparison to the nitty gritty stuff that is included about his political tiffs with some of the bosses.

So, in general I would say that I prefer Edmund Morris' work to Pringles.Having said that though, this book acquaints the reader with the politics of the US at the turn of the century in an eye opening manner.Modern issues such as bail outs of credit institutions are mirrored in the early 1900's and interestingly, with the same arguments.Much of what passes for "progressive" today is found there.TR in Pringle's depiction is passionate but prone to much less of a consistent principled stance than presented by others.The truth is probably somewhere in between but Pringle's analysis is a needed balance to other, more sympathetic depictions.

So... good read... a bit of a struggle in spots... but worth the investment.

Doesn't Measure Up
I agree with many of the other reviews. I picked this up because Pringle's biography was a Pulitzer Prize winner, written close in time to the subject matter. I was disappointed in the writing style and the lack of penetrating analysis. It is like a stone skipping over the lake. Subsequent authors have done much better and that might be expected as history and the passage of time provide their separate illuminations. Still, Pringle had the benefit of first person, first generation sourcing and I expected more as a result. Pringle's three paragraph forward to the book's re-release in 1955 laid a clear foundation. He said he would have failed completely unless he proved that T.R. was never dull. I have to say Pringle tantalizingly cracks that door but doesn't expand on it. I found his sidebar comments on various contemporaries of Roosevelt, especially as some have been lost to history, more interesting. Intriguing side streets that I intend to pursue. In fact, that only would be my recommendation for this book.

However, Pringle never fleshes out Roosevelt. Pringle seems to catch his outline, his reactions to events, circumstances or people, but fails to deliver T.R. himself. This might suffice as a brief introduction to Roosevelt but much more interesting and illuminating biographies are now available.

impersonal look at Teddy
I found Henry F. Pringle's biography on Theodore Roosevelt to be bit overrated. Probably because it was published back in 1931 that make the material so dated. Passage of time and reassessment of Theodore Roosevelt make this book somewhat of an oddity. Despite of being published just 12 years after Roosevelt's death, it was interesting to read that this was basically a pretty negative outlook on a great American. The style of his writing, the way he jumped forward and backward simply confused the subject matter sometimes. It doesn't helped that the author never really get into the mind, personality and motives of his subject. Many of the issues surrounding Roosevelt's life are simply not in-depth enough to be interesting or informative.

I supposed for readers back in the 1930s, this book had a lot to offered. But nowadays, with works by Edmund Morris, David McCullough, Nathan Miller and Kathleen Dalton, there is really very little purpose in reading this book. It doesn't offered any thing new nor offered any great insights.

I read it because it was so highly acclaimed back then. It won the Pulitzer Prize and won high reviews back then. But reading it now after going through many of the modern materials on Roosevelt, make Pringle's work looked weak and stale.

Not really recommended for anyone unless your curiousity get aroused by ancient work.

Heavy Handed And Opinionated
Henry Pringle's "Theodore Roosevelt" was one of the first biographies of TR and was written before the passage of time permitted an unimpassioned analysis of his life.Roosevelt scholarship has advanced over the intervening years.

Pringle has a reputation for factual errors.I caught a few statements of his which are consistently contradicted by later biographers.Other biographers display the ability to present the facts, both those favorable and unfavorable to TR, while leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions.With a heavy hand, Pringle supplies his own opinionated conclusions, which were often critical of TR.

TR lived such a full life that any single volume biography has to seem to be shallow.This relatively short biography is no exception.For a biography of TR I would recommend Edmund Morris' "The Rise Of Theodore Roosevelt" and "Theodore Rex" as well as Nathan Miller's "Theodore Roosevelt: A Life".For his early life I would recommend David McCullough's "Mornings On Horseback" (see my Amazon review on each).I would reserve Pringle's work for readers already well versed in TR lore who are seeking a thorough familiarity with TR literature.

Heavy Handed And Opinionated
Henry Pringle's "Theodore Roosevelt" was one of the first biographies of TR and was written before the passage of time permitted an unimpassioned analysis of his life.Roosevelt scholarship has advanced over the intervening years.

Pringle has a reputation for factual errors.I caught a few statements of his which are consistently contradicted by later biographers.Other biographers display the ability to present the facts, both those favorable and unfavorable to TR, while leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions.With a heavy hand, Pringle supplies his own opinionated conclusions, which were often critical of TR.

TR lived such a full life that any single volume biography has to seem to be shallow.This relatively short biography is no exception.For a biography of TR I would recommend Edmund Morris' "The Rise Of Theodore Roosevelt" and "Theodore Rex" as well as Nathan Miller's "Theodore Roosevelt: A Life".For his early life I would recommend David McCullough's "Mornings On Horseback" (see my Amazon review on each).I would reserve Pringle's work for readers already well versed in TR lore who are seeking a thorough familiarity with TR literature. ... Read more

Product Description
From the bestselling author of First Ladies,Inside the White House, and America's First Ladies comesthe first look at the women of one of the most influential families inAmerican history: The Roosevelts.

The Roosevelt name conjures up images of powerful presidents anddashing men of high society. In The Roosevelt Women, Betty BoydCaroli finally gives the women of the remarkable Roosevelt clan theirdue. An exceptionally gifted historian, Caroli weaves together storiesculled from a rich store of letters, memoirs, and interviews tochronicle nine extraordinary Roosevelt women across a century and ahalf of turbulent history.

"Great fun for Roosevelt buffs."-Kirkus Reviews

"An unforgettable family saga of four generations of feisty andfascinating women bound together by courage, love, andduty.…Hats off to Betty Caroli for this magnificent portrait ofthe women of one of America's most fabled families!"-Mary Matalin,political strategist and co-author of All's Fair: Love, War, andRunning for President

"A memorable account of a remarkable group of women. Our view of theRoosevelts-and of what constitutes an American dynasty-will never bethe same."-H.W. Brands, author of T.R.: The Last RomanticAmazon.com Review
First Ladies Eleanor (Franklin's wife) and Edith (Theodore's) are bothsubjects of full-scale biographies, and Theodore's daughter AliceRoosevelt Longworth remains legendary for her caustic wit. In this book,historian Betty Boyd Caroli looks at seven additional powerful Rooseveltwomen (the family didn't seem to produce or marry any other kind) andnotes some intriguing similarities despite the political differencesthat divided "Theodores" (stalwart Republicans like Corinne RooseveltRobinson and her daughter, Corinne Robinson Alsop) and "Franklins"(Democrats such as Sara Delano Roosevelt, unjustly caricatured as themother-in-law from hell). All these women descended from Martha BullochRoosevelt, a Georgia belle who married North and kept her Confederatesympathies quiet; they all were unusually independent and outspoken forwomen born in the 19th century; and several compensated for unsatisfyingmarriages with intense friendships. And they lived and breathedpolitics with a sense of noblesse oblige towards those not blessed withtheir wealth and privileges. Caroli's cogent group portrait restores tohistory neglected figures like Anna Roosevelt Cowles, whom somecontemporaries felt would have made a better president than her youngerbrother Theodore, and puts well-known histories like Eleanor's in arevealing new context. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

A great read!
This is a simply wonderful book for what it tells us both about the women of the Roosevelt clan and the men. Caroli's story lends great insight to both Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and the relationship between the two.

The book is set up as a series of smaller books, each one on a particular Roosevelt woman. The great thing is how Caroli connects these women to each other and to the politics of the time. It is interesting to see how different these women were as well as similar. For many of them, their most important relationships with men (outside their brothers/fathers) were not their husbands. Bamie, Corinne and Alice's husbands all take a backseat to other men - often the political magnets of the day. Not that scandal haunted any of these women (except Alice, who courted it). There were some genuine love matches - Edith and Theodore really had a strong, passionate marriage.

Caroli begins with Theodore Roosevelt's mother, Mittie. Mittie is often an overlooked figure and this book brings out who she was and why. It also gives great insight to the childhood of TR and how the Civil War affected him quite differently than you'd expect. Mittie's sister, Anna Gracie, is also a huge force in the life of the young Roosevelts and we see this chapter.

Then Caroli covers TR's sisters: Bamie Roosevelt Cowles and Corrine Roosevelt Robinson. Both these women played down their role in their brother's political life, but this book shows how involved they actually were. Both these women contributed greatly to the political future of the US. These women were also the models for the next generation and where they went for advice and help.

The fourth "book" talks about Edith Roosevelt (TR's wife) and Sara Delano Roosevelt (Franklin's mother). What is interesting here is the comparisons that Caroli draws between these two women. Edith was seen as the perfect wife and companion while Sara was vilified as the evil mother-in-law. Yet Caroli manages to show them as real women, beyond that basic stereotype. I especially find it interesting how involved Sara was in creating the woman we know as Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor, in the beginning of her marriage, needed the advice and guidance of the older woman, although she would later outgrow it, hence the later picture of Sara.

Then Caroli covers Eleanor Roosevelt, but here it is interesting to see the background to the political life we know so well. Eleanor, although Franklin's wife, is also Theodore's niece (the daughter of his brother, Elliot) and connected to both sides of the family. With this generation we see the split between the "Theodores" and "Franklins" politically and then moreorless socially (although there is never a complete severing of ties). Theodore's family had always been staunch Republicans, but Franklin was going to be the golden boy of the Democratic party, which would rub hard on the "Theodores."

Next we see another niece of TR's, Corinney Alsop [her name is Corinne, but the family called her Corinney and to distinguish mother and daughter, Caroli does as well], the daughter of his sister Corinne. Corinney followed in her mother's shoes as a political speaker and activist, even serving in political office herself (one of the few to do so and the only of this generation). Corinney also kept some of the best relationships with the "Franklins" and even voted for him at one point.

Finally we cover TR's daughters: Alice and Ethel in the last two sections. Ethel's life revolved around family and her activities more confined than some of her cousins. Alice, while not an activist in any sense, was one of the best known figures of Washington for her outrageous behavior and tongue. Alice would literally say anything. The stark contrast between these two sisters is brought out as we see Ethel as the more dutiful and responsible and Alice as the butterfly, always seeking attention, yet these two were constant friends throughout their long lives.

This book is definitely worth your attention for several reasons. First, it showcases these oft-overlooked political figures of the Roosevelt clan. Second, it gives new insight to the men who rose to political heights on the shoulders of these women. Lastly, it is just plain entertaining and well-written - a completely enjoyable read.

Strong men, stronger women...
In The Roosevelt Women by Betty Boyd Caroli, the author gives us a fascinating look at the Roosevelt women from primarily the Oyster Bay branch of this venerable family.Most of us have a general knowledge of presidents Theodore Roosevelt (TR) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR).We also have some idea of the contributions of Eleanor Roosevelt to the world stage.The story of Eleanor Roosevelt and her female kin (grandmother, aunts and cousins) is in some respects even more remarkable than that of the Roosevelt men.

The book starts with Martha "Mittie" Bulloch Roosevelt, TR's mother.This beautiful Southern Belle married the senior Theodore Roosevelt.While often times spoiled, fragile and frivolous, she was also a caring mother and patient teacher to her children.According to Caroli, she withdrew from "family competition" in order that her plain daughters would "feel superior to her, to develop both wit and charm sufficient to outshine her inordinately good looks."Though she never lived to see her four granddaughters, they all credited her for her contributions to the Roosevelt family.

Mittie's daughters, Anna Roosevelt Cowles and Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, provide the most engrossing characters in The Roosevelt Women.While not well schooled, they were both bright, articulate and politically astute women.They surrounded themselves with powerful, witty and intelligent men and their houses were the center of lively and sparkling conversation.In later life, Corinne became a published poet and a public speaker.While these sisters were trailblazers in many ways, they were content to stay in the shadow of their more famous brother, TR, and never flaunted their relationship with him.Yet, they did everything in their power to help TR reach his political goals.It has been said that if Anna, Corinne and Teddy were all alive today, the women would make better presidential material.

Subsequent chapters cover the lives of Mittie's daughter-in-law, Edith (TR's second wife), Eleanor Roosevelt, Corinne Robinson Alsop (Corinne's daughter), Alice Longworth (TR's oldest daughter), and Ethel Derby (TR's youngest daughter)."Princess Alice" is probably the most colorful of the group and was considered the "other Washington Monument."TR once said of his wayward and headstrong daughter "I can run the country, or I can control Alice.I cannot possibly do both."

The Roosevelt Women is a very readable book, and often seems more like a novel than a work of nonfiction. But this is by no means the complete story of all the Roosevelt women, as there is very little on the Hyde Park side of the family (Eleanor Roosevelt was an Oyster Bay Roosevelt before she married her 5th cousin, Franklin)Sara Delano Roosevelt (FDR's mom) does not rate her own chapter. Also, there are no women covered in depth after the generation of Mittie's granddaughters.Still, these criticisms aside, this is a book not to be missed by any true Roosevelt fan.

Fascinating
This book really held my attention.While I must admit that I still get a little confused with the Roosevelt family tree, this book gave me just enough information about the Roosevelt women.It's refreshing to read about the women behind the men!

There are other Roosevelts other than Eleanor and Alice
This was a pretty well written biography of the women of the Roosevelt family.It includes TR's mother and sisters and a few others you don't ordinarily read about, such as his second daughter, a niece, his second wife.The author does not go into any great depth for any of these women, but she gives a good overview of the lives of each.Well worth reading.

Wonderful
This book is so good, I can't put it down.It should be on the readinglist of every college student doing Women's Studies, as well as regularhistory courses.Thanks to Book Notes for interviewing this author onC-span, I can continue my education with these wonderfully insightfulbooks. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (10)

Fascinating story, well-written
I had heard the author discussing his book on NPR and thought it sounded good, and it didn't disappoint.The story is fascinating on several levels:(1) about a nascent public health effort, (2) about the failures of local government, and (3) about the rise of a truly remarkable politician, Theodore Roosevelt, and his grappling with the politics that imbued (1) and (2).Highly recommended!

It wasn't the heat and it wasn't the humidity
When it gets sultry enough to kill, it's not the heat, and it's not the humidity. It's the housing.

Despite rumors you may have heard to the contrary, the world is not measurably hotter today than it was 100 years ago. Whether people die in heatwaves is mostly a function of how poor and ignored they are, as Edward Kohn demonstrates in his recounting of the forgotten horror of August 1896 in New York, where in 10 days about 1,200 people died of heat-related troubles in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Kohn, a historian who teaches at Bilkent University in Turkey, is a specialist in Teddy Roosevelt, and "Hot Time in the Old Town" is as much about how Roosevelt's actions during the heat wave revived his political career as it is about the heat wave. This heat spell changed world history, since Kohn contends that Roosevelt was about to finish a term as president of the New York Police Commission "as a laughingstock," because of his enforcement of Sunday liquor laws.

Along came a spell of warm weather. It was not unusual for August, then or now. In fact, just before it began the high temperature as reported by the Weather Bureau had been a mere 71 degrees. A few days later, the government thermometers were registering in the high 90s.

They never got to 100. Many 100-plus days have been reported since, so it might appear that, indeed, the globe, or at least the parts around New York Harbor, have warmed considerably. However, as newspapers noted at the time, the government thermometers were mounted high and bathed in cool breezes.

Kohn reveals that there were three series of temperature measurements available, the official record, the newspapers' reports and a third, private research series. They differed among themselves by 5 or 10 degrees. So much for claims that a reliable record of global surface temperatures back to 1850 (or 1880, depending upon which phony climate alarmists you are listening to) exists that can be used to determine the effects of increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

In an act of almost unbelievable restraint, Kohn manages to write his book without mentioning global warming. He deserves a medal.

Down where the poor people lived, in airless tenements, whose bricks stored heat in the day and baked inmates at night, measured temperatures were at least 10 degrees hotter than Weather Service reports. In bedrooms, temperatures of 120 were usual. Physicians who took rectal temperatures of corpses routinely made readings of 110 degrees.

The '96 heat wave has been forgotten in popular memory, and Kohn says that even in historical treatments the death toll has been given as about 400. By comparing the 1895 and 1896 bills of mortality, he raises the toll to about 1,200, figuring that the excess was almost all due to heat in one way or another.

Babies and old people were most vulnerable, but laborers who should have been in the prime of life died in numbers, too.

The reason was, they weren't in their prime. The Panic of '93 was still on, and unemployment was high. Workmen could not take a day off, and they were paid so little that they could not afford decent housing (with windows) or ice, or fresh water.

Among the things Roosevelt did was to distribute hundreds of tons of ice from police stations on the Lower East Side. Kohn concludes that simple and cheap response -- when other politicians considered that it was "not the business of government to take care of people," as President Grover Cleveland put it -- saved hundreds of lives.

It may have cost hundreds and thousands of Filipino lives in the longer run, because his compassionate response to New York's dying poor helped propel the imperialist Roosevelt into the presidency, with global consequences. But that is another story.

Disappointing
The title indicates that the book will show how the New York heat wave of August 1896 influenced the political career of Theodore Roosevelt. If that really is the author's intent, then the book is a frustrating failure. TR is a tangential figure in the narrative, no matter how many anecdotes the author tells about Roosevelt's tenure as president of the police commission. In fact, the book only shows one effect of the heat wave: that people suffered, including those who attended William Jennings Bryan's speech at Madison Square Garden, and Bryan himself. The author suggests that the poor speech derailed Bryan's chances of winning the election, but there is no evidence for that assertion.

On the other hand, perhaps the title was some sort of editorial compromise, because the majority of the text covers a slice of 1896 presidential campaign politics. The heat wave figures in to the campaign, we are told, because of its effect on Bryan and those around him, but the political effects of the heat are not as prominent in the book as the personal tragedies of random New Yorkers that get tossed into the book every few pages or so. The repetition is numbing and boring, but it is the sense of padding that really distracts the reader. The book seems little more than story after story about the campaign, punctuated with tales of heat wave victims, none of it tied into a cohesive whole. Even at the end, the author makes assertions about TR and Bryan that are unsupported by the text.

In fact, nothing is supported in the text. There is a bibliography, but it is more like a list of suggested works for further reading. The book has no footnotes, and there is no way to verify the author's work. He doesn't say where he got this or that fact, or why he comes tothe various conclusions he does throughout the book. We can take him at his word that he reviewed the dozens of death certificates that he says he did, but we shouldn't have to trust him for his political observations unless we know exactly what their bases are.

The book is superficial and repetitive, and it jumps here and there among several topics that the author fails to unite coherently. I recommend this book for people who don't read a lot, and therefore will not be put off by the simplistic writing; for readers who get bored easily, and want a narrative that jumps among its disparate topics without threading them together; and for the easily distracted, who need to have the same point repeated ad nauseam.

Interesting look at politics during disaster.
This was a very interesting read. The book spends alot more time on the campaign of William Jennings Bryan than Roosevelt or the heat wave, but it still offers an alarming glimpse of what life was like in NYC at the turn of the century.

A good read
I really enjoyed this book.It is definitely a piece of forgotten American history.After reading this, I wanted to know more about turn of the century New York and the political world of that time. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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He inherited a sense of entitlement (and obligation) from his family, yet eventually came to see his own class as suspect. He was famously militaristic, yet brokered peace between Russia and Japan. He started out an archconservative, yet came to champion progressive causes. These contradictions are not evidence of vacillating weakness: instead, they were the product of a restless mind bend on a continuous quest for self-improvement.

In Theodore Roosevelt, historian Kathleen Dalton reveals a man with a personal and intellectual depth rarely seen in our public figures.She shows how Roosevelt’s struggle to overcome his frailties as a child helped to build his character, and offers new insights into his family life, uncovering the important role that Roosevelt’s second wife, Edith Carow, played in the development of his political career. She also shows how TR flirted with progressive reform and then finally commited himself to deep reform in the Bull Moose campaign of 1912. Incorporating the latest scholarship into a vigorous narrative, Dalton reinterprets both the man and his times to create an illuminating portrait that will change the way we see this great man and the Progressive Era.


From the Trade Paperback edition.Amazon.com Review
Biographers have often treated Theodore Roosevelt as "a larger-than-life monument carved in stone, unchanging, far from being flesh and blood, and quite imperturbable." So writes Kathleen Dalton, who gives us a fully fleshed, quite down-to-earth TR in this vigorous, sometimes critical biography of the 26th president.

Roosevelt carefully crafted an image of himself as a self-made man. Fair enough, Dalton suggests, though he had a big head start in coming from one of New York's wealthiest and best-connected families. More than shaping his body to overcome weakness, his spirit to overcome fear, he had to overcome the prejudices of his time and class in order to be truly fit for leadership, and even as president he wrestled with a few contradictions (opposing, for instance, a woman's right to divorce, but endorsing public flogging of spousal abusers). He was not always successful, Dalton writes, but he emerged in the end as a great champion of civil rights and of the middle and working classes, very much ahead of his time.

There's a lot of interest in Theodore Roosevelt these days--and for good reason, given the recent international turmoil and financial tumble, which, some would argue, beg for TR's patented big-stick and trust-busting treatment. Dalton's Theodore Roosevelt offers a satisfying portrait of a constantly fascinating subject. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

A Family Man
In 1974, Kathleen Dalton was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given six months to live. A year later, her (misdiagnosed) illness was in complete remission, and Dalton was free to start a new life. She decided to write a dissertation, and, frustrated by earlier biographies that portrayed him as either godlike or deeply-flawed, chose President Theodore Roosevelt as her subject. Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life, the product of 25 years spent poring through letters, manuscripts, and newspaper articles, represents Dalton's attempt to dispel both the cartoonish "sham reformer" and the "Mount Rushmore icon" in favor of a man questing for righteousness and equality in a manner ahead of his time, who had doubts and shortcomings even as he upheld ideals and virtues, and who was shaped most by the people he loved and the challenges he faced.
In this complete biography, Dalton traces TR's life back to a childhood complicated by asthma and marked by an obsession with science and reading(neither of which, she demonstrates, he ever truly overcame). Continuing on with his determination to live up to the name of his philanthropist/reformer father, the author examines TR's reckless college years, and the emotional shock of losing both his first wife and his mother, which ultimately drove him to retreat into the West. The years of his early political career and military service pass quickly, culminating in his unexpected ascendancy to the office of President. The rest of the book is filled with examples of public opinion of Roosevelt both as Commander in Chief and Bull Moose, and his calls for reform paint a picture of a man dedicated to the common people. His failures more often proved to be the product of a Legislative Branch unwilling to accept new ideas. (When TR appealed to Congress to set aside places of natural beauty for "posterity," one Senator asked indignantly, "What has posterity ever done for me?") At other times his Presidency is marked with eccentric whimsies, such as his attempt to use the government to "Americanize" the spellings of over a thousand English words, or the occasion in which he removed "In God We Trust" from US coins. Throughout her narrative, Dalton gives examples of the lengths to which Roosevelt went to live "the strenuous life", including his near-suicidal habit of jumping back onto the campaign trail following illness or injury, often long before his doctors advised him to. A few times, her research uncovers moments of startling and prophetic wisdom(In an appeal for agricultural management, TR predicted the Dust Bowl thirty years in advance.) Though the biography contains only a few pages of black-and-white photographs, it benefits from a wealth of sources and notes that, fully listed, take up the final 150 pages of the book.
Dalton's Roosevelt proves to be neither a gold-hearted saint nor a manic-depressive tyrant. Seen through letters written by him and his family members, he transforms from a symbol into a human being, a man who did the best he could and tried at every chance to prove his strength. Even taken off his pedestal, TR fulfills every expectation thrown at him, whether we choose to see him as a fool or a savior. The N.A.A.C.P. gave perhaps the best description in an obituary: "Take him all in all he was a man, generous, impulsive, fearless, loving the public eye, but intent on achieving the public good.... We mourn with the rest of the world as is fitting, but there is too in our sorrow a quality peculiar and apart. We have lost a friend."
Maybe that is the most valuable side of Roosevelt that Dalton gives us: of a friend who refused to let politics affect his relationships, and a loving father who would play with his children every evening indifferent of fatigue, and a husband who wrote letters to his wife detailing the ways in which she made his life happier. If for no other reason, Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life is a book worth reading because of the lengths to which Dalton goes to show the life TR lived with his family, and the love for and from them that shaped so much of his experiences. Dalton calls Roosevelt "America's most fascinating president," but it is ultimately the familiarity we gain for the father and the husband that makes this biography so great.

Excellent biography of evolving man
Dalton has done an impressive job of showing the evolution of Theodore Roosevelt, as a politician and as a thinker and activist.She captures the fact that TR embodied the American notion of Gatsby; not the criminality, but rather the notion of inventing one's self.She demonstrates how he carefully cultivated an image and tried to live up to that image, tried to be the man he claimed he was.He was a complicated man who held contradictory positions at different times in his life.Dalton emphasizes the final product, the Progressive bull moose who had largely abandoned earlier racist ideas and who wanted "the square deal" for all Americans.Dalton's biography stands up there with any other for detail, and a very important even-handedness with her subject.She doesn't hide the flaws, but she isn't about tearing down "the man in the arena" either.Well done.

Go elsewhere for TR
This is unfortunately not a very good biography.It was written, one supposes,to give a "woman's perspective" on TR,but gives that genre -- if it's a genre -- a bad name.World War One is given the same weight as the arrival of pet squirrels and children's coughs.We get a slab of family life and then a slab of contemporary politics, and then a slab of family life and so on throughout the book.There is no historical perspective or synthesis that might move the reader to a greater, more thoughtful, height.The only reason I give it two stars is that there is a great deal of fact in the book, and it isn't poorly written.But go somewhere else for a bio.

The Dedinitive Biography...Period!
There are many fine books on our 26th President, but this one reveals so much new info on TR and demonstrates that he was truly a radical on issues such as women's suffrage and social welfare legislation. The programs he advocated from 1910 on pointed the way to FDR's New Deal and the social welfare state. Reading this book I marvel that TR is a hero to any conservative. Were most Republicans to read his Progressive Party platform they'd likely denounce it as Communistic and even many Democrats would be reluctant to tackle the corporate status quo as Roosevelt once did. Imagine proposing National Health insurance and living wage legislation back in 1912. We're still trying to catch up with T.R. on these issues today! In this book, perhaps the best single-volume biography of Roosevelt since William Henry Harbaugh's "Power and Responsibility, we see as never before that Theodore Roosevelt was a man ahead of his time...and ours.

A Great, Interesting Book
I have used this book for my term paper and would say that sometimes I got off track because the book was so interesting.
Dalton has a witty and funny writing style and I feel as if I am reading a thriller.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ... Read more

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Ex-President and explorer Theodore Roosevelt recalls in his journal of a hunting trip in Africa the many animals he stalked and killed for the Smithsonian institution, and his meetings with East Africans. ... Read more

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Perfect reading for downtime on your safari
I had just finished reading Douglas Brinkley's new The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America and decided to take Roosevelt's African Game Trails: An Account of the African Wanderings of an American Hunter-Natrualist on my own safari to East Africa this summer. The book is a collection of articles he wrote during his 1909-10 safari for Scribners.

One of the questions I had before I read the book is whether it would actually provide interesting insights into Roosevelt and Africa, or whether it would just relate how Roosevelt shot up wildlife. I found the book to be a mix of both. Roosevelt is a keen observer of wildlife and provides many insights into animals that biologists consider accurate today (and that I observed on my trip). His discussion of which of the Big 5 (Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Rhinos, and Cape Buffalo) is the most dangerous is interesting and he reflects upon his own experiences to conclude that it depends on the situation. There are also a few memorable stories, such as the time when his fellow hunters had to throw several spears into a Lion to stop its charge. It is also simply fun to see a former U.S. president in all sorts of crazy situations (the book has great black & white photos from the trip).

However, the most interesting aspect of the book is its insight into Roosevelt himself. He frequently calls indigenous Africans savages and praises European settlers. From these remarks, it is clear that he saw Europeans in Africa in much the same manner as he saw the American West - a new frontier to be settled on behalf of civilization. He isn't racist - at least according to the standards of his time (in the U.S., he was actually quite progressive on race) - but rather reflects a Social Darwinist view of humanity.

This is a long book (over 500 pages in my version) and it seems long after a while since it generally involves the accumulated killing of animals. However, you have to remember that it was originally written as a series of articles for Scribners and was not meant to be read in one sitting. I think it works well if you read it over a few days or weeks. I read mine during the long drives from one park to the next during my safari in East Africa. That way, you won't get fatigued by the hunting stories.

One final note: this book is crying out for an annotated edition. I think it would be great for some conservation biologist to expound upon Roosevelt's observations of African wildlife. While Roosevelt gets many things right, we have also benefitted from a century of field research in East Africa. For example, Roosevelt at first is adamant that there is only one species of Rhinoceros, with the Black Rhino being the common form and White Rhinos a sub-species aberration (although by the end of the book he sounds less sure). Of course, today we consider these two distinct species and in fact the Black Rhino is far less common. I would also be interested in learning whether his observations of the African tribes were accurate. Alas, this is the work of a future edition. While you're waiting, you can take this edition of African Game Trails with you on your next safari. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Perfect reading for downtime on your safari
I had just finished reading Douglas Brinkley's new The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America and decided to take Roosevelt's African Game Trails: An Account of the African Wanderings of an American Hunter-Natrualist on my own safari to East Africa this summer. The book is a collection of articles he wrote during his 1909-10 safari for Scribners.

One of the questions I had before I read the book is whether it would actually provide interesting insights into Roosevelt and Africa, or whether it would just relate how Roosevelt shot up wildlife. I found the book to be a mix of both. Roosevelt is a keen observer of wildlife and provides many insights into animals that biologists consider accurate today (and that I observed on my trip). His discussion of which of the Big 5 (Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Rhinos, and Cape Buffalo) is the most dangerous is interesting and he reflects upon his own experiences to conclude that it depends on the situation. There are also a few memorable stories, such as the time when his fellow hunters had to throw several spears into a Lion to stop its charge. It is also simply fun to see a former U.S. president in all sorts of crazy situations (the book has great black & white photos from the trip).

However, the most interesting aspect of the book is its insight into Roosevelt himself. He frequently calls indigenous Africans savages and praises European settlers. From these remarks, it is clear that he saw Europeans in Africa in much the same manner as he saw the American West - a new frontier to be settled on behalf of civilization. He isn't racist - at least according to the standards of his time (in the U.S., he was actually quite progressive on race) - but rather reflects a Social Darwinist view of humanity.

This is a long book (over 500 pages in my version) and it seems long after a while since it generally involves the accumulated killing of animals. However, you have to remember that it was originally written as a series of articles for Scribners and was not meant to be read in one sitting. I think it works well if you read it over a few days or weeks. I read mine during the long drives from one park to the next during my safari in East Africa. That way, you won't get fatigued by the hunting stories.

One final note: this book is crying out for an annotated edition. I think it would be great for some conservation biologist to expound upon Roosevelt's observations of African wildlife. While Roosevelt gets many things right, we have also benefitted from a century of field research in East Africa. For example, Roosevelt at first is adamant that there is only one species of Rhinoceros, with the Black Rhino being the common form and White Rhinos a sub-species aberration (although by the end of the book he sounds less sure). Of course, today we consider these two distinct species and in fact the Black Rhino is far less common. I would also be interested in learning whether his observations of the African tribes were accurate. Alas, this is the work of a future edition. While you're waiting, you can take this edition of African Game Trails with you on your next safari. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (13)

Great Transaction
Book was shipped promptly within the projected time frame.Quality of book met my expectations.Speedy delivery.

A Changing America
The assassination of William McKinley is far less examined than those of Lincoln and Kennedy.If only for the relative obscurity of the topic alone, this deserves a look.While somewhat disappointing for a lack of focus, the book is quite informative.

The author's thesis seems to be that the assassination of McKinley was symbolic of America's discontent with conservativism and big business's hold on politics, bringing about the progressive movement and the emergence of Theodore Roosevelt.The title of the book would seem to imply a focus on the assassination of McKinley, which is not accurate.Make no mistake about it, the title of the book is deceiving.Rauchway goes for several pages at a time examining nothing but the rise of Roosevelt.In that respect, the author strays from delivering what the title of the book suggests and at times from supporting his apparent thesis.

One of the issues the book does a reasonable job of addressing is the story behind McKinley's assassin, Leon Czolgosz.Alienist Vernon Briggs investigated the life of Czolgosz only to find the powerful businesses that McKinley shielded were a key part of the environment that created the assassin.In the process of his investigation, Briggs brings the issue of the insanity defense to the attention of the American justice system.In this respect, Briggs's research had a major impact on the judicial system.

Without the significant digressions into the social changes brought about by the Roosevelt administration, this book would be much thinner.Perhaps that is why Rauchway chose to include it.Even with the digressions, the book is decidedly thin.I enjoyed the book even though I believe it could have been composed with a much better sense of focus.

The Concept Of This Book Was More Interesting Than The Book Itself
Those who have noticed my growing list of reviews will find a lot of things reviewed, including several books on history.If you are one of those, you may notice that these books deal with presidents of the late 1800's and early 1900's.Considering that McKinley is my favorite president, this book captured my interest.However, it failed to maintain it.

I noticed it goes along with the traditional view that McKinley was basically conservative, and that progressive Roosevelt became vice-president to get him out of the hair of NY boss Sen. Tom Platt.Having read Kevin Phillip's biography, I disagree with this assessment.I also found the comparisons between McKinley's assassin Leon Czolgosz (pronounced "Cholgosh") with Garfield's killer Charles Guiteau interesting, having read "Dark Horse" about Garfield.

This book looks at various aspects of the turn of the century outlook.It seems to see Roosevelt as the beneficiary of Czolgosz's crime.I find some of the former interesting, but the book continued to bore me.Like "Dark Horse", it is told as a story, but it would make an excellent bed-time story because I would be asleep in no time.

If you have a keen interest in the mindset of that period of time, I would recommend this book to you.Likewise, if you want to deal with what constitutes insanity, I would also suggest you read this book.However, if you want a book to keep your interest, this is not it.

A great effort at a truly unique topic
The authors goal of trying to show how the 20th century was going to be radically different from the 19th is a tough one to pull of but Rauchway makes a valiant effort.This book deserves five starts because it takes a topic that no one else has attempted and presents the information well.There are a few minor errors that I discovered but on the whole it presents a useful history that when taken in context is an excellent segway into the era of American imperialism.Overall this is a good book that is a great read for those who have knowledge about the Gilded Age.

Very First Page Contains a Glaring Error. Rest isn't Much Better
I'm sure the statement, as fact, that Emma Goldman "dismissed [Czolgosz] as a police informant" would come as a great surprise to Miss Goldman.Anyone who read her autobiography, living my life, or looked into the subject at all would know that it was her friend, the Mennonite anarchist Abraham Isaak, who published a warning about Czolgosz being a spy in his newspaper "Free Society." Goldman didn't really know Czolgosz (or even his real name), but she demanded Isaak publish a retraction as he had no proof of his allegation.She later blamed this kind of hostile treatment from the very Chicago anarchists she'd introduced Czolgosz to for driving him to "prove himself" through his attentat.

If you want to know about Anarchism and the period, don't buy this book. Buy "Living My Life," or read it right here for free: [...]

Frankly, that's what the author would have done if he'd cared about getting even the most basic facts correct.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good
Years ago, I picked up Harold Faulkner's "Politics, Reform and Expansion" to kill a little time. I didn't have any idea, but it was part of a group of books written decades ago and published by Harper and Row called the New American Nation Series. The books tell the story of US History in 40 odd volumes, written by prominent academia from the time. Theyhave been revised occasionally as the decades passed. I cant really explain why I like the set so much, but I do. I suppose there's something deep inside my heart that yearns for the New Frontier Idealism when it seemed we were much more optimistic as a people. I think that's fine for all of us if we can recognize the limitations of thinking about it in those terms....

Over the years I started picking up the series here and there. The latest for me is George Mowry's book on the Theodore Roosevelt Era.

The treatment of William Howard Taft is unkind, to say the least. Mowry paints a picture of a clueless and lazy fatdude, stuck in a bathtub of unoriginality who wrecks TR's hopes to reform big business by siding with monopolists and failing to lead his own politicalparty, which enjoyed unchallenged rule, until Taft destroyed it through inertia.

Mowry seems unsure of what to make of Theodore Roosevelt. Like other historians, he seems to admire one side of the man and ignore the other. Was TR a reckless war monger or the Nobel Prize Winner? Was he a racist who believed African-Americans were some sort of inferior race or was he the man who appointed more blacks to offices than any other post-reconstruction Presidents? Meddling internationalist who believed US power was superior or protector of Venezuela against British intrusion? Roosevelt was a complicated man, an egotist and maybe one of the great ones.

Before the politics of the book, Mowry talks about intellectual, social and religious tides that ring a little hollow to me. I do believe there are intellectual movements that have impact on what's going on in every time. How relevant are such things to the poor farmer raising his crop at the start of the 20th century? Maybe not enough for as much of the book to be devoted to the topic. We probably would have recieved more social history in another age.

I am awe struck at the racism that ran through the time. We certainly were not taught how many racist notions were in the minds of the Progressives of the time.

If you bear the time period in which it was written in context this book is a good pick-up, but the last word on scholarship didn't die with JFK .... You can find more modern things. I think Mowry's book is a good ancillary text to anything from today. ... Read more

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It is impossible to win the great prizes of life without running risks, and the greatest of all prizes are those connected with the home. No father and mother can hope to escape sorrow and anxiety, and there are dreadful moments when death comes very near those we love, even if for the time being it passes by. But life is a great adventure, and the worst of all fears is the fear of living. --Theodore Roosevelt, from his autobiography.

Following the assassination of President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt charged into the limelight and the twentieth century as the 26th president of the United States. Charismatic, fiercely energetic, and adored by Americans everywhere, TR would champion a host of causes to bring the nation into the new century brimming with optimism and onto the international scene as a world power.

From his earliest days as a youth in New York City to his declining years during World War I, Historic Photos of Theodore Roosevelt captures the greatest exploits of one of the nation s greatest Americans. As soldier and explorer, as conservationist and big game hunter, as governor, vice-president, and president, as scientist and writer, and as family man, TR s life in pictures blazes a path sure to enthrall every reader, from the student of history to the history buff.

TR became and remains an American icon. The hundreds of photographs in Historic Photos of Theodore Roosevelt, many of them rare and unusual, and all published in striking black and white, help Americans a hundred years later to understand why. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Fantastic pictoral history
My 10 yr-old daughter is a fan of Teddy Roosevelt and can't get enough information on him. Books written for children bore her but adult biographies are still too much. This "Historic Photo" review gives her (and us!) interesting and new information on Teddy's life along with pictures that she can see what life was like "in the olden days."

I love this book, and cannot recommend it enough!
I have come to expect excellence when I open one of Turner Publishing's Historic Photos book...and this book did not let me down! The book contains some 200 pages filled with high-quality black-and-white pictures of President Theodore Roosevelt. The pictures were collected by a recognized Theodore Roosevelt expert, who has already written two other books - one on Theodore and one on his daughter, Alice.

Overall, I found this to be a great book, filled with many interesting pictures, each one with an informative caption. If you want to know about the great man, then this is a very good book for giving you a visual history of his life. Indeed, if you are already a TR fan, as I am, then you will love seeing him throughout his life.

I love this book, and cannot recommend it enough!

[A crusading governor, a noted hunter and outdoorsperson, thought by some to be too young and inexperienced to be vice-president of the United States - will we ever see his like again?]

An impressive body of work
Upon the unexpected assassination of William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt found himself being sworn in as the 26th President of the United States and went on to become one of the most dynamic, charismatic, energetic, and popular president is American political history. "Historic Photos Of Theodore Roosevelt" is a compendium of period black-and-white photos of TR visually documenting his life and exploits as a soldier and explorer, a conservationist and big game hunter, a scientist and writer, a family man, and his time as the governor of New York, his brief term as a vice-president, and as a president. With informative captions given them by Stacy A. Cordery (web bibliographer for the National First Ladies Library in Canton, Ohio) "Historic Photos Of Theodore Roosevelt" is a fittingly pictorial biographic presentation of a remarkable man whose political policies, ideas, and influence are still resonating in American culture today. "Historic Photos Of Theodore Roosevelt" is an impressive body of work and a strongly recommended addition to academic and community library reference collections in the areas of 20th Century American History, Photography, and Biography.

Gives us a very nice visual biography of TR's life
TR has become one of the more popular historic Presidents and many books have been written about his life and his work.The Library of America has a collection of his books and another of his letters.I recommend both heartily.And I also encourage you to add to your understanding of the life of Theodore Roosevelt with this collection of a couple hundred photographs taken from all periods of his life.A few of them you will have seen in the popular images and in the biographies, but most you will not have seen unless you are a TR specialist.

This book was put together by Stacy A. Cordery who is a scholar on TR and his daughter, Alice.She has written an excellent foreword and captions for the pictures.Cordery lets the pictures do most of the work, but adds just the right touch of context to help us understand better what we are looking at.She also notes that we have so many of these helpful photos because TR was so adept at using the press and getting them to help him get the publicity he wanted.

While the photo is printed to very high quality standards, the pictures come from a time when the skill of the photographer mattered a great deal to the final product, so you will notice some variance in the texture of the photos.They are not because of the publisher.And the large format allows us to study the photos very closely.Get out a magnifying glass and see the detail you can pick up.It really is quite cool.

A very nice book.
... Read more

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