Review (PDF) Theodore Roosevelt: The Rough Riders/An Autobiography (Library Of America)
Reformer, rancher, conservationist, hunter, historian, police commissioner, soldier, the youngest man ever to serve as president of the United States--no other American public figure has led as vigorous and varied a life as Theodore Roosevelt. This volume brings together two fascinating autobiographical works. The Rough Riders (1899) is the story of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, the regiment Roosevelt led to enduring fame during the Spanish-American War. With his characteristic elan Roosevelt recounts how "these grim hunters of the mountains, these wild rough riders of the plains," endured the heat, hunger, rain, mud, and malaria of the Cuban campaign to charge triumphantly up the San Juan Heights during the Battle of Santiago. In An Autobiography (1913), Roosevelt describes his life in politics and the emergence of his progressive ideas. Surveying his career as a state legislator, civil service reformer, New York City police commissioner, assistant secretary of the navy, governor, and president, Roosevelt writes of his battles against corruption, his role in establishing America as a world power, his passionate commitment to 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.
Series: Library of America (Book 153)
Hardcover: 864 pages
Publisher: Library of America; First Edition edition (October 7, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1931082650
ISBN-13: 978-1931082655
Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.4 x 8.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #374,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #94 in Books > History > Military > Regiments #1029 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > United States > US Presidents #1484 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Presidents & Heads of State
Reading this magnificent volume was a joy on many levels. First and foremost, Theodore Roosevelt could write. His prose is always strong, active, and colorful. In "The Rough Riders" he handles action better than most novelists. He picks just the right details about the situation to make it come alive. Whether it is talking about the sound of the bullets buzzing by and the value of smokeless powder because of the difficulty of spotting those using it against you or the plague of sand crabs picking at the dead the reader feels as if he were there.I also found real pleasure in reading about a time in American history that I did not know that much about. Theodore Roosevelt was a young boy during the Civil War (and he had family on both sides of the conflict) and died in 1919 just after The Great War (WWI). "An Autobiography" was written in 1913 after his failed third party run for the presidency. It is a magnificent work because it is not a chronology of his life. Instead he tells the story of his life through some events that allow him to illuminate at length on various aspects of his philosophy of life. He talks about morals, civil service reform, his views on productivity and the working man versus the big corporations negotiating the end of the Russo-Japanese War and a lot more. At all times he shows how he has considered all sides of an issue and how he came to his decision.One of the problems in reading history is that a false light is cast backward onto events in the past. The cataclysm of the two world wars and all the history of the following them have made understanding the time of T. Roosevelt, as they understood it, all but impossible.
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