Teddy Roosevelt: Young Rough Rider (Childhood of Famous Americans)

Customer Reviews:

No one could listen to this........2004-06-11

This is a review of the audiobook only. School is ended and until summer camp starts, my 8 year old daughter has to go to work with me. I stocked up on audiobooks to keep her busy. We both were really excited about the one on Teddy Roosevelt, and started with it first. I set her up listening in the lunchroom and I went back to work. After 5 minutes she showed up in my office saying that there was something wrong with the tape, like it was in slow motion. We played it on another cassette player. We played the other tapes. They're all the same. Lloyd James reads this book one syllable at a time and sounds like a 5 year old that is trying to sound out every word. It goes so unnaturally slow that I thought the cassette spool must be warped. One star is too high.

In A Kid's Words.......2000-07-06

Teddy Roosevelt, Rough Rider is interesting because it is a biography and history of Teddy Roosevelt as a child. He liked natural history and even stuffed the animals he caught himself - yuck! When he grew up and was president, he was involved in saving park and forest land and wildlife. Yellowstone Park was one of the parks he helped with. He had asthma but he wanted to build up his body to be strong, so he did a lot of sports like boxing and horseback riding. He liked to read and write books. A funny part of the story involved frogs, but you'll have to read it yourself to find out!

In A Kid's Words.......2000-07-06

Rough Rider in the White House: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of Desire

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Brilliantly insightful
Terrible Historical Revision
Truly terrible, post-modern, feminist re-interpretation.
Cowboy Soldier Sets The Stage
New look at TR.

Rough Rider in the White House: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of Desire
Sarah Watts
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0226876098

Book Description

Who was Theodore Roosevelt? Most of us think of him as one of America's greatest presidents, a champion of progressive politics, and a master statesman. But many feared the political power that Roosevelt wielded. Woodrow Wilson once called him "the most dangerous man of the age." Mark Twain thought him "clearly insane." William James scorned the "flood of bellicose emotion" he let loose during his presidency. Even his biographer, Edmund Morris, is astonished at Roosevelt's "irrational love of battle."

In this book, Sarah Watts probes this dark side of the Rough Rider, presenting a fascinating psychological portrait of a man whose personal obsession with masculinity profoundly influenced the fate of a nation. Drawing on his own writings and on media representations of him, Watts attributes the wide appeal of Roosevelt's style of manhood to the way it addressed the hopes and anxieties of men of his time. Like many of his contemporaries, Roosevelt struggled with what it meant to be a man in the modern era. He saw two foes within himself: a fragile weakling and a primitive beast. The weakling he punished and toughened with rigorous, manly pursuits such as hunting, horseback riding, and war. The beast he unleashed through brutal criticism of homosexuals, immigrants, pacifists, and sissies—anyone who might tarnish the nation's veneer of strength and vigor. With his unabashed paeans to violence and aggressive politics, Roosevelt ultimately offered American men a chance to project their longings and fears onto the nation and its policies. In this way he harnessed the primitive energy of men's desires to propel the march of American civilization—over the bodies of anyone who might stand in its way.

Written with passion and precision, this powerful revisioning of an American icon will forever alter the way we see Theodore Roosevelt and his political legacy.

"A superb scholarly study of how Roosevelt built his political base on the aspiration and fears of men in a rapidly changing nation and world."—Charles K. Piehl, Library Journal

"A thought-provoking and innovative study of the dark side of Roosevelt's personality. . . . [Watt's] arguments are clear, passionate, and thoroughly supported."—Elizabeth A. Bennion, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Customer Reviews:

Brilliantly insightful.......2006-11-28

To judge from at least some of the other reviews of this book, some readers are offended by Watts' steadfast refusal to engage in presidential hagiography. Bravo for her.

The best history and the best biography seek to explain and teach about the complexities of our past and the figures that shaped it. Not a single reviewer takes her to task for allegedly inadequate research, perhaps because her notes clearly indicate that she has mastered the primary sources on Roosevelt and has a clear command of the secondary literature. Watts' carefully documented and researched book is the first to tackle head-on one of this country's most complex and contradictory presidents: Teddy Roosevelt. She suggests that his contradictions shaped, and continue to shape public discourse and politics into the 21st century -- weakling and superman, imperialist and hunter, progressive and conservative, idealist and realist.

One need look no farther than the anguished debate about American imperialism and the Iraq war taking place today, or -- indeed -- the debate about whether John Kerry was "man enough" to lead this country to see that Watts has landed on a compelling argument and written a brilliantly creative biography. I would argue that, as the angry reactions this book seems to have provoked show, she has also hit a nerve.

Well done!

Terrible Historical Revision.......2004-12-18

Having read only brief publications about TR, I can only claim partial qualification for this review. That said, I found this book to be highly insulting and disrespectful to the memory of Theodore Roosevelt. The author paints a picture of a man that was emotionally disturbed at best. How can she come to such far fetched conclusions when she has never even spoken to the man? The analytical process the author uses is abstract. Nearly every page is filled with modern feminist language that I found to be very out of place in a book that is supposed to be about an important American icon.
I'm truly sorry and ashamed that I even picked up this book, let alone read it. This is revisionism at it's most rank.

Truly terrible, post-modern, feminist re-interpretation........2004-03-23

Having read over 20 biographies of TR over the years, I would have to say that this is the worst. The author utterly fails to assess TR in his "context", though she claims that this is her intent. She judges TR based on modern, "politically correct" sensibilities, and, naturally, finds him wanting. This book is more appropriate as required reading in the Women's Studies department at Wellesley College than for a student of history or devotee of TR.

Cowboy Soldier Sets The Stage.......2003-12-11

In ROUGH RIDER IN THE WHITE HOUSE Sarah Watts unravels the contradictory strands of Theodore Roosevelt's character, a character forged at the first flexing of America's imperial muscle, and in so doing uncovers the roots of the United States' bipolar political discourse of the twentieth century. She amply proves her thesis that "Although Roosevelt was progressive and optimistic his political vision encompassed his darker, emotional, anti-liberal worldview of men and nations struggling against the forces of evil" (page 2).

This political vision would serve, and to an unlikely extent, still serves as America's domestic and foreign policy, she suggests. Watts makes this argument implicitly throughout most of the work, however, late in the book she does allow this ghost assertion to manifest itself: "For the remainder of the twentieth century, modernism continued to deprived men of viable lives and to force them into compromises that many consider feminizing and emasculating. As the middle class searched for meaning in a world of bureaucracy and consumerism, and as purchasing power and real wages began their long decline after 1972, men still needed a muscular proving ground on which to inscribe their anti-modern revolt, and the appeal of violence on an official level never diminshed" (page 240).

Indeed, she suggests that the conservative backlash of the past 25 years has borrowed much of the bellicose rhetoric and militaristic ethos of Roosevelt, as well as the sorting of citizens into the deserving and undeserving groups by wealth, ethnic and racial background, and social position. As Watts says with respect to non-white, non Anglo-Saxon males, "Roosevelt's exclusionary language had helped to create an intolerant social milieu and a punitive psychological one" (page 240). As Watt's points out, "(Roosevelt's) vision of manhood rested on the notion of a once strong, but now fragile and ever weakening male self, a notion that arose from his own emotional preoccupations, particularly his disgust for his own and other men's physical inferiority, his pervasive sexual priggishness, his anxiety about future sexual and racial degeneracy, and his fears of an interior cowardice that might be exposed to the outside world" (page 4). And, further, she notes that "Throughout his life, Roosevelt met every appearance of this weakened self with aggressive disciplines and punishments," and that ""No matter how he toughened himself, however, he could not escape living in a Victorian world in which normalcy was at stake and monstrosity was everywhere" (page 4-5). This Victorian world, she claims, has been recently been resuscitated as a political dreamspace in our political discourse.

Watts clearly shows that "Roosevelt was the first president to articulate the shared anxieties of his generation, and he provided its first seemingly coherent response to the current dislocations of modern society" (page 2). In retrospect, the bipolar extremes that Roosevelt practiced as the embodiment of its new "manifest destiny," from gentleman Patroon and cowboy soldier, now seem so extreme that they could not have co-existed in one man. Indeed most modern biographers have difficulty explaining these extremes and tend to focus on one side or the other. And so most accounts are usually are just recitations of his activities, while this most contradictory of all presidents, who led us out of the era of the frontier and into the American Century seems lost to our comprehension. Watts makes TR make sense because her contextualization of his life in his times is completely convincing. Excellent illustrations.

New look at TR........2003-09-26

This is a great book, but knowing the author personally, my opinion is probably biased. Just because Theodore Roosevelt is viewed as an American hero does not remove him from criticism. The author of the other review has no idea what he/she is writing about when he/she says that he pitties the students at Wake Forest. Dr. Watts is one of the most caring and thought provoking professors a student could hope for.

San Juan 1898: Roosevelt's Rough Riders (Trade Editions)

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great book

San Juan 1898: Roosevelt's Rough Riders (Trade Editions)
Angus Konstam
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1841761222
Release Date: 2000-09-25

Book Description

The background to the Spanish American war lay in the Cuban insurrection of 1895-1898 and the cruelty with which it was suppressed by Cuba's Spanish overlords. The spark which ignited the rising tension into open war was the destruction on 15 February 1898 of the USS Maine with the loss of over 250 men, the result of a mysterious explosion in Havana harbour. A naval court of inquiry blamed Spain and the US declared war on Spain on 25 April. Angus Konstam's fascinating book guides us through the whole Cuban operation which was characterised by appalling command and control and poor reconnaissance. It cost the Americans over 1,500 killed but effectively saw the end of Spain's dominion in the 'New World', and America's emergence as a world power.

Customer Reviews:

great book.......2006-07-30

Great book unless his ones involving Pirates.

Nicely written. Well illustrated.

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Like Watching The Movie..
An American icon's personal view of the Spanish-American War
The Boys and Men Who Charged Up San Juan Hill with Teddy
Great reading on TR
Charge Into Americana!

Rough Riders
Theodore Roosevelt
Manufacturer: Aegypan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1598181939

Book Description

The Rough Riders is Roosevelt's account of his adventures in the Spanish-American War, and it was a bestseller immediately when it was published in 1899. The Rough Riders were a uniquely American crew of cowboys, scholars, land speculators, American Indians, and African Americans, and this volume chronicles their triumphs and defeats with riveting and engrossing detail.

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In 1898, as the Spanish-American War was escalating, Theodore Roosevelt assembled an improbable regiment of Ivy Leaguers, cowboys, Native Americans, African-Americans, and Western Territory land speculators. This group of men, which became known as the Rough Riders, trained for four weeks in the Texas desert and then set sail for Cuba. Over the course of the summer, Roosevelt's Rough Riders fought valiantly, and sometimes recklessly, in the Cuban foothills, incurring casualties at a far greater rate than the Spanish. Roosevelt kept a detailed diary from the time he left Washington until his triumphant return from Cuba later that year. The Rough Riders was published to instant acclaim in 1899. Robust in its style and mesmerizing in its account of battle, it is exhilarating, illuminating, and utterly essential reading for every armchair historian and at-home general.

Customer Reviews:

Like Watching The Movie.........2006-08-02

If you liked the movie the ROUGH RIDERS starring Tom Berringer at "TR", you will enjoy this book. It was apparent that Berringer and crew did their homework as many parts of the movie are found in the book almost word-for-word. Much detail.
Nothing like history written by someone who was actually there.

An American icon's personal view of the Spanish-American War.......2005-04-02

"The Rough Riders," by Theodore Roosevelt, is the author's memoir of his experiences as part of the First United States Volunteer Cavalry during the Spanish-American War. The book's title comes from the nickname earned by the unit. The copyright page notes that the text was originally published in 1899. TR tells about the recruitment and training of the Rough Riders, their voyage to Cuba, their battles, and their return home.

Much of the book concerns what, in TR's opinion, makes for good soldiers and good leaders. Although the book first appeared over a century ago, I found many of TR's observations startlingly relevant to contemporary warfare; he discusses wartime refugees, guerrilla warfare, wartime atrocities, and battlefield news correspondents. Other topics covered include illness among the troops and the impact of weather and terrain on warfare. He also discusses occasional humorous material, such as the nicknames some soldiers earned.

Roosevelt includes fascinating technical details about the weapons of this era. Although he frankly discusses the violence, wounds, and deaths of the battlefield, overall I got a sense that TR saw the war as a grand adventure-even fun on a certain level. The writing style is very engaging and has a clear, matter-of-fact quality. TR's admiration and love for his troops ultimately gives the book a real warmth and humanity. This is truly a landmark in the rich canon of American military memoirs.

The Boys and Men Who Charged Up San Juan Hill with Teddy.......2004-08-09

They came from all over the United States and the Western Territories. They were Ivy Leaguers, Cowboys, Indians, Sheriffs, Outlaws, Civil War veterans, Indian fighters, businessmen. Men like Allyn Capron, Buckey O'Neill, (future Secretary of the Navy) Frank Knox, Hamilton Fish, the famed Indian fighter Leonard Wood, and of course the bespectacled Assistant Secretary of the Navy, former New York Police Commissioner and sometime cowboy named Theodore Roosevelt.

The "Rough Riders" is Roosevelt's classic story of these highly motivated volunteers who eagerly volunteered to fight in the Spanish-American war, and whom many, including the regular army officer Capron, the Arizona sheriff O'Neill, Fish and others paid the ultimate price. And not all of the nearly 1000 men who volunteered ever made it over to Cuba. Several troops, to their everlasting sorrow, and nearly all of the horses had to stay in Tampa, the port of embarkation, because of a lack of troopships.

Roosevelt tells the entire story, which helped catapult him to the Presidency, of the feisty former Confederate Cavalry commander Joseph Wheeler, who commanded all of the volunteer cavalry, and who, to the amusement of his men, blurted out at Las Guismas, "We've got the damn Yankees on the run" - momentarily lapsing into Chickamauga, not Cuba!, and of how San Juan Hill was stormed and captured under intense fire from Spanish rifles, gatling guns, and cannon, and giving praise not just to his own men, but to the accompanying Black Cavalrymen of the 9th and 10th cavalry, and of the regular infantry units that were involved in the operation.

The colorful and fact-based story of brave American men who fought for the freedom of others, now sadly under totalitarian rule. A Classic slice of Americana written by one of America's best.

Great reading on TR.......2004-04-08

This was Teddy Roosevelt's account of his beloved Rough Riders and how they and him, virtually won the war in Cuba single-handed during the Spanish American War. I personally thought the book was well written, very informative about the character of the war, problems and individuals that make up the Rough Riders and Roosevelt's own take on the war. I am pretty sure that Teddy didn't write this book just for history. He had politics in mind when he wrote it and he made sure that he was at the center of the universe in his own book. Actually, there isn't nothing wrong with that since the book reads well and Roosevelt was generous with his praises toward many people. Teddy was also quite insightful in his observations of the way our military campaign in Cuba was being handled. It was clear that he did care a lot about his men and took his responsiblity seriously. A good reading material on the Spanish American War even with the pro-Teddy bias, you can't help but to be entertained by it.

Charge Into Americana!.......2004-01-27

In "The Rough Riders" the story of this famed regiment flows from pen of its creator and commander, Theodore Roosevelt. Beginning with his preparations for war while serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, TR takes the reader along during the four month life of this romantic regiment.

A polyglot collection of Cowboys and Indians, lawmen and outlaws, Ivy Leaguers and half-breeds, the Rough Riders captured the imagination of the nation. Authorized to organize a volunteer cavalry from the western territories, Roosevelt, recognizing that his own limited military experience may prevent the regiment from a timely arrival at the front, accepted the position of second in command to his friend, Leonard Wood. With Wood's leadership and Roosevelt's energy building on the rough and tumble abilities of its troops, the Rough Riders were quickly whipped into shape and shipped to the embarkation site in Tampa.

Struggling to get to the port and aboard ship, the Rough Riders were among the first troops to get into combat. Charging up Kettle Hill during the attack on the San Juan Hills, the Rough Riders passed through glory on their way to the trenches surrounding Santiago.

With the Spaniards vanquished, the Rough Riders took on a more lethal foe, disease, prominently malaria. As a volunteer officer who did not have to fear official retribution, TR took the lead in fighting for an early return of the army to the U. S. before it was destroyed by tropical diseases.

TR tells the Rough Rider story from every angle. The reader meets its characters and learns its legends. We learn of its triumphs and its disappointments, such as leaving many of its men and most of its horses in Florida. We read of the challenges of transport, landing, fighting and marching. The brass come in for both praise and criticism.

Book Description

Before Teddy Roosevelt earned his reputation as a strong, masculine hunter, explorer, and Rough Rider, he actually endured a sickly childhood. That’s just one aspect of his life covered in this handsomely illustrated biography, which follows his transformation into a disciplined athlete and one of the world’s best-known public servants and politicians. Renowned author John Garraty uses quotes from Roosevelt throughout, giving readers direct contact with the man’s colorful personality. In addition, Garraty masterfully eliminates confusing details, while emphasizing the significance of Roosevelt’s actions as he deals with opposing faction. He emerges as the first modern President and a great statesman.

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The Rough Rider
Jack Cummings
Manufacturer: MacMillan Publishing Company.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, Architect of American Imperialism

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USEFUL STUDY
Very Relevant History for our Times
A well written book about a fascinating man
Must Read for Military Leaders, Department of State and Students of American Military History
Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, Architect of American Imperialism

Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, Architect of American Imperialism
Jack McCallum
Manufacturer: NYU Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0814756999
Release Date: 2005-12-01

Book Description

"Fine biography."
—Washington Times

"Splendid biography."
—Dallas Morning News

"In this day and age of warfare followed by nation-building, Wood's career may hold some lessons for today's generals."
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"This very servicable book deserves attention, especially by those contemplating the prospects of the current American empire."
—London Review of Books

"Wood receives his due in a fine biography. . . . All sides of the general are presented."
—Washington Times

"[McCallum's] research at the Library of Congress included studying thousands of Wood's letters and diary entries, as well as court records. The information sheds new light on several controversial issues, including Wood's role in establishing the Georgia Tech football program and the true story of the Republican Convention of 1920."
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"We can be grateful for Jack McCallum's dutiful biography, which gives us a reliable...chronicle of Wood's meteoric ascent and a detailed record of his imperial achievements."
—Wall Street Journal

"Leonard Wood was one of the most fascinating figures during the age of the American empire at the turn of the 20th century. Physician, general, and colonial administrator, he was a man of great talents and striking flaws. Jack McCallum, himself a physician, has written a lively biography of Wood that shows how he moved from doctor to warrior, always trailing controversy behind him. At the end of this fascinating volume, readers will understand why Leonard Wood aroused such intense passions in Cuba, the Philippines and on the American political scene during the Progressive Era"
—Lewis L. Gould, Eugene C. Barker Centennial Professor Emeritus in American History, University of Texas at Austin

"With the skill of a surgeon, Jack McCallum has dissected the life of Leonard Wood-one of the most significant army officers and doctors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Leonard Wood reveals how this arrogant, intolerant, self-righteous, and autocratic army officer laid the foundations of American twentieth century nation building."
—Gene A. Smith, author of Thomas ap Catesby Jones: Commodore of Manifest Destiny

One of the most fascinating but least remembered figures in modern American history, Major General Leonard Wood (1860-1927) was, with his close friend Theodore Roosevelt, an icon of U.S. imperialism as the nation evolved into a global power at the dawn of the twentieth century. The myriad of roles that Wood played in his extraordinary career offer a mirror image of the country's expansion from the urban Northeast to the western frontier to Latin America and the Far East. Boston surgeon, Indian fighter, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, Medal of Honor winner, commander of the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War, Governor General of the Philippines, and presidential candidate, Wood was one of a select cadre of men that transformed the American military at the turn of the century, turning it into a modern fighting force and the nation into a world power.

Throughout his life, Wood tested the division between military and civilian power to its very limits. His 1920 presidential campaign and his conflicts with civilian politicians were harbingers of the struggles that Generals Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower would face as they moved from the battlefield to Washington following World War II.

Jack McCallum has mined Wood's extensive personal records—including diaries, correspondence, and photographs—to create a vivid portrait of a complex man and the legacy he left on U.S. imperialism. America's rapid conquest of Cuba and the Philippines and the subsequent political and economic reconstruction it imposed under Wood's military supervision in these regions have important parallels to current U.S. involvement in the Middle East, both in its successes and its failures.

Customer Reviews:

USEFUL STUDY.......2006-08-26

Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, and Architect of American Imperialism by Jack McCallum is slightly misnamed. General Wood was by no means THE architect of America's brief experiment with empire.

General Wood was in many ways an interesting example of how to run an occupying government. Balancing force with progressive policies, he left Cuba and the Philippines healthier, wealthier, and better educated then when we found them. In that sense, he epitomized a brand of colonialism that was both uniquely American and truly revolutionary.

Having grown up in northern Arkansas, it is challenging to say or write the name Leonard Wood without putting the word "Fort" in front of it. Thus, the installation in southern Missouri intended to honor the man has replaced him to those few who have even heard his name.

General Wood was the son of an unlicensed medical doctor. He was part of the middle class by prestige, but not necessarily by income. A physician himself and having met the requirements for his internship, General Wood had left his training hospital under a bit of a cloud and therefore needed a way to support himself. The army became that window of opportunity. Unable to secure a commission in the medical corps, he hired on as a contract surgeon.

Taking part in the last great campaign against the Indians, General Wood quickly distinguished himself as not only a surgeon but as a leader. His examples were not only the tough junior officers and non commissioned officers of the old west, but also Gen Crook and Gen Miles. From these two fathers, Gen Wood learns how to lead and, from Miles, how to thrive in the politically charged 19th century Army.

Leaving the old west with a commission as a Captain in the medical corps, he accompanies Gen Miles to Washington and builds relationships to the leading republicans.

When the Spanish-American War begins, General Wood becomes a Col in the volunteers leading the Rough Riders raised by his good friend Teddy Roosevelt. A combat promotion to Brigadier General soon follows. Shortly afterwards, General Wood earns his second star and becomes de facto ruler of Santiago and, later, all of Cuba.

It is at this point, the biography becomes useful. While somewhat protected by the weaknesses in his judgment by legislative mandates, General Wood begins to craft a policy of governing that the current policy makers would have been wise to follow in current day Iraq.

Not all of the lessons of this book are acceptable as those on military governance. General Wood is political, devious, and, at times, downright disloyal to his seniors. Yet, this perhaps only makes this a more realistic biography than other books that cover the same period.

Sadly, General Wood has largely been forgotten by most students of history. His career covered a phenomenal period of change. General Wood's experience was shaped by the last veterans of the Civil War and he was the elderly mentor for the generation that fought World War II after his death.

Very Relevant History for our Times.......2006-04-28

Leonard Wood is forgotten today, but he was a formidable figure in his day and even came close to becoming President of the United States. He was an able administrator of both Cuba and the Philippines. One flaw in his administration was an authoritarian personality, who always did the right thing but tended not to listen to the people he was out to help.

Interestingly, his story has a great deal of relevance today. It is far more important to succeed in Iraq and Afghanistan because as Europe becomes Islamicized, as it will within our lifetimes, the new majority will need a democratic model on which to base their governance. If they look at the Talibans and Saddams of an unreformed Middle East, then Europe will not be a pleasant place to visit, let alone live. If we can establish a tradition of democracy in even one or two Muslim countries, then we can embrace a Muslim Europe. We weren't out to democratize either Cuba or the Philippines in 1900 and we need to synthesize General Wood's great achievements with a democratic approach. I saw that being done in Afghanistan and I'm sure that that is happening in Iraq.

This is a great story and a great book. It is badly in need of maps, however, and the author has a tendency, sometimes, of telling us rather than showing us the strengths and weaknesses of Leonard Wood. Nevertheless, it is an important book about a very contemporary subject.

A well written book about a fascinating man.......2006-03-26

For anyone who has read multiple volumes about Theodore Roosevelt, the name Leonard Wood has appeared many times. The more that I saw his name, the more I wanted to learn about the man but there was so little material available about him. Dr. McCallum has given us a well written and well researched book about one of this country's most visionary military leaders during an interesting period in our nation's history.

The drawback, if there is one , to reading history is that you often times see the "warts" that existed on or about the subject matter and Leonard Wood certainly had his share of warts. However General Wood, in many ways, was exactly what our nation needed at this period in its development, a bridge from the old school line of military thought to what served as a template to a more modern army.

Thanks Dr. McCallum. I needed this.

Must Read for Military Leaders, Department of State and Students of American Military History.......2006-03-13

"Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, Architect of American Imperialism" by Dr. Jack McCallum should be considered a must read for any military leader or anyone in the field of foreign relations. The book is an outstanding biography - well researched and written. It's real strength is found in the story of Wood during the Spanish-American War and his enlightened administration of Cuba after the war. Here the book really shines. Sometimes the book bogs down in it's story of U S Army administration and politics in the early 20th century but that topic is central to the story of Wood's unique career from Surgeon to Soldier to Colonial Administrator to top soldier as Chief of Staff. I purchased my book for two reasons: I wanted to know more about the history of the U S Army during the period of Wood's service and my tremendous interest in all topics related to Theodore Roosevelt. It is in the latter area that the book is somewhat of a disappointment. While there are plenty of references to TR, there is much less on the relationship between the two and TR as a friend and personal confidante than I had anticipated. That aside, I enthusiastically recommend this book for anyone in leadership in the military, the Department of State, military historians and in particular those interested in the U S Army between the Indian Wars and World War I.

George F. Franks, III
Franks Consulting Group
www.franksconsultinggroup.com
http://consultingandcoaching.blogspot.com

Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, Architect of American Imperialism.......2006-03-01

This is an exciting story of an important American, who has thus far escaped the attention of amateur American historians.

Jack McCallum has delivered us a highly entertaining and very instructive account of Dr. Wood's eventful life.

Roosevelt's Rough Riders (We the People: Industrial America)

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Roosevelt's Rough Riders (We the People: Industrial America)
Andrew Santella
Manufacturer: Compass Point Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 075651732X

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Arguably Arizona's Favorite Son
Hero of the Rough Riders
Rich and authoritative

Rough Rider: Buckey O'Neill of Arizona
Dale L. Walker
Manufacturer: University of Nebraska Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0803297963

Book Description

Buckey O’Neill was famous in Arizona Territory as a gambler, lawyer, newspaperman, miner, sheriff, and politician. This fast-moving narrative takes him from the streets of Tombstone all the way to Cuba, where he won Theodore Roosevelt’s admiration as the wildest and bravest of the Rough Riders.

Customer Reviews:

Arguably Arizona's Favorite Son.......2004-09-06

Buckey O'Neill was a legendary lawman, a gallant soldier, and a Democrat when being one meant fealty to the flag and country. Even in a Republican state like Arizona Buckey O'Neill is a state hero - and much revered in Prescott.

This son of an Irish immigrant and Civil War Veteran risked death many times, chasing outlaws across the deserts and praries. If he hadn't recklessly strolled along the front lines facing the Spanish emplacements on San Juan Hill, O'Neill might very well had gone on to bigger and better things, including possibly being territorial governor. He was a particular favorite of Theodore Roosevelt's, who took his death very hard.

Dale Walker has already written a superb book about the "Rough Riders" in the "Boys of '98" and here he sets the record on the man who is arguably Arizona's favorite son - above and beyond t Goldwater, the Earps, and perhaps even John McCain. Only the late hero Pat Tillman's life and career might be as adventurous and as legendary as O'Neill's was.

Hero of the Rough Riders.......2000-04-22

Although I loved the Rough Riders movie on TNT, they got the character Buckey O'Neill wrong. This book will set you straight on a forgotten hero, who did more in 38 years than most men would do in a life time. Just how far would he have gone had he not been killed at Kettle Hill? The next time that I'm on Whiskey Row, I will give a toast to William Owen O'Neill. This is a great book.

Rich and authoritative.......1999-03-18

Dale L. Walker's biography of O'Neill, one of the early West's most fascinating figures, is richly drawn, authoritative, and distinguished. O'Neill is best known as one of the Rough Riders of the Spanish-American War, but Walker meticulously depicts all the other facets of this legendary Arizonan. This is surely the standard work on O'Neill.

Rough rider: The challenge of moto-cross

Average customer rating:

Rough Rider

Rough rider: The challenge of moto-cross
Corinne J Naden
Manufacturer: Troll Associates
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Sports & Activities | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Motorcycle Racing | Miscellaneous | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0893752509

Customer Reviews:

Rough Rider.......2000-06-07

Anyone with kids? This book will hold their attention for hours on end. My 3 year old son will sit for 2 hours per day enjoying the pictures in this book. I have read and re read this book to him time after time. He associates himself and his brothers with every picture in this book. It is simply amazing how it captures the true essence of true motorcross. I highly recommend this book for any child / parent. It will go a REAL LONG WAY. ENJOY

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