Theodore Roosevelt: The Rough Riders and an Autobiography FROM THE PUBLISHER
"The Rough Riders (1899) is the story of the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, the regiment Roosevelt led to enduring fame in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Roosevelt recounts how the regiment was raised from an unusual mixture of hardened southwestern frontiersmen and privileged northeastern college graduates, and how it trained in Texas and then sailed "southward through the topic seas toward the unknown." Writing at a time when war could still be seen as a romantic adventure, Roosevelt describes the confusion of fighting in the jungle; the heat, hunger, rain, mud, and malaria that tested his men; and his "crowded hour" of triumph on the San Juan Heights." In An Autobiography (1913), Roosevelt recalls his lifelong fascination with natural history, his love of hunting and the outdoors, and his adventures as a cattleman in the Dakota Badlands, as well as his career in politics as a state legislator, civil service reformer, New York City police commissioner, assistant secretary of the navy, governor of New York, and president. Roosevelt writes of his battles against corruption and machine rule, efforts to establish America as a world power, historic achievements in conservation, and his growing conviction that only a strong national government and an energetic presidency could protect the public against the rapacious greed of modern corporations.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Of the Presidents whose writings have been included among the first 152 volumes in the Library of America series, only Lincoln and now Theodore Roosevelt have merited two separate volumes. Scholars rank TR as America's fifth best president overall, and he surely ranks among its most prolific writers. Novelist and TR biographer Auchincloss has sifted through the enormous collection of Roosevelt's writing to capture some of his best pieces. The first volume contains The Rough Riders (1899) and the four-times-longer Autobiography (1913). These major works are followed by the editor's detailed chronology of TR's life, a very useful "Note on the Texts," and further notes. The second volume consists of 367 of the more than 100,000 letters TR wrote during his lifetime. Four of his most famous speeches are also included "The Strenuous Life" (1899), "The Big Stick" (1901), "The Man in the Arena" (1910), and "The New Nationalism" (1910) followed by a duplicate of the chronology from the first volume, a brief note on the texts, nearly 50 pages of editor's notes, and an index. The material in these volumes illustrates TR's diverse interests, ebullient spirit, and writing talent. Essential for both public and academic libraries. William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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