I've read 40+ plus books by or about TR and this is the worst, one-sided view of this complex, multi-facted man. This is as bad as the radical-left "Howard Zinn-ism" revisionist history of TR's foreign policies.

There are too many "blatant" errors to list in this mini-review, but just for starters:

1). TR did not, as the author claims, visit his mother's Georgia plantation "10 or more times". It is well documented that TR only visited Bulloch Hall twice -once as president and once post-White House. He did not have a very high opinion of most Southerners, despite the author's claims to the contrary. His wife abhorred most Southerners.

2). TR did not force his children, particulary Alice, to attend church every Sunday. Edith was the religious task master of the family and in her quiet manner usually rounded up all kids, except for Alice. Alice was a well-known, open atheist from her teen years until she died. TR and Edith had accepted the teenager's refusal to be confirmed in the Episcopal church or any other church. Their son Archie also grew up to be an agnostic.

3). TR most certainly did NOT shower Edith with flowers and jewels. He never even remembered her birthday (though he never forgot the date of their engagement and wedding anniversay). Edith hated receiving extravagent gifts from anyone, especially her husband. They did have a very happy marriage and home life but he also known for taking off on 3-month hunting trips soon after Edith would deliver another baby.

4). TR most certainly did like to attend parties and was a professional social butterfly because he knew he would probably end up as the main attraction - just what his ego needed. The author paints TR as a man who shunned social gatherings to be with his family 24/7. Definitely not true. He LOVED being around people of all and any type, though his wife certainly like to stoke the home fires more than making the social rounds.

5). TR never made any speeches about abortion. Abortion was not on the radar screen in his time. The author uses quotes that TR said about women not wanting to get married and raise families to make it seem as though TR were speaking direcly on the subject of abortion.

6). TR believed in and preached on the separation of Church and State. He wanted to remove "In God We Trust" from the US coinnage and even pushed one of the leading artists of that time, Grant LaFarge, to create a new design. The "religious right" of his time went ballistic over this decision and he later backed down. He made many speeches proclaiming that the Church stay out of the affairs of the State. Indeed, he was a strong, "old school" Christian who did preach to the citizens the value of religion, a happy home life, and following the morals one teaches to his/her children. However, he also thought a country would head down the dangerous path if a certain religion or belief were forced upon its citizens.

I would not recommend this book on TR to ANYONE.

In some ways, this is a very good book. It does a great job of bringing to light the many virtues of a most interesting and complex man. It sorts out the various aspects of Roosevelt's life and personality very nicely and does so in an engaging manner. TR was a fascinating man, and I really enjoyed learning more about him. But "Carry a Big Stick" also has some serious problems. For one thing, TR's blind spots and political mistakes are not even touched on, much less discussed in any depth. This makes the narrative somewhat facile and simple-minded, not the thorough, intelligent treatment that I would like in a biography.

In some ways, the hagiographic nature of the book did not bother me overly much because I bought the book for my bright 5th grader. She was supposed to read a presidential biography for a school project. Having a treatment that deals only with the most admirable aspects of the person seems appropriate for this circumstance. Unfortunately, the vocabulary in this book is too advanced for someone in the 5th-7th grades, even if the level of discourse is not. In the end, my daughter and I read the book together, stopping every few sentences so that I could provide a synonym for a difficult word. Now you might think this is not so bad, but if an author is going to write a simplistic biography, why not make it accessible to the most likely audience? In most cases, the esoteric words were not necessary, and I could easily come up with synonyms that my daughter knew.

What finally made me decide that I really didn't like the book was that toward the end it took on a political tone, very preachy and heavy-handed. It showed that the author had a very conservative political agenda that had little to do with Theodore Roosevelt. Until the last 50 pages or so, I enjoyed the book, but the end really ruined it for me. I was VERY glad that I was reading it along with my daughter because I was able to provide some perspective to counteract the political propaganda.

George Grant has written a delightful book about a delightful man. Theodore Roosevelt, perhaps the most energetic, athletic, multi-faceted president that has ever served our great country, receives bully treatment in this little book.

Grant shows that Roosevelt - once described as "that damned cowboy" by a political adversary - was more than just a cowboy. He had tremendous natural abilities, and he made the most of them. There doesn't seem to be an academic field that he didn't know, and his knowledge often impressed the experts. He seems to have lived every moment of his life to the fullest.

He was a devoted husband and father, and held strongly to his Christian faith. His Christianity and his respect for marriage and family were more important to him than anything else. His firm adherence to his principals was more important than party loyalty. He was more interested in doing what was right than in doing what was convenient, or politically advantageous.

Few men in history - and certainly few, if any, in American history - can be said to have lived as Roosevelt did. Reading about his life is the next best thing. Anyone who is interested in leadership and character will find this book worthwhile, as will anyone who is simply interested in living life to the full.

I was really disappointed with this book. Even though it offers a incredibly wide variety of desserts, it explains all of them too briefly (why "step-by-step"?). You must know everything. Besides that, its glossary has general information. And it is not for homebakers since all the recipes are presented in very, very large quantities, perhaps for a restaurant. It is very tiresome to be dividing the recipe, not only one time, but two or three times! There are 16 color photos, it is true, but you must guess what desserts are pictured in it.(?)

Strictly for professionals, this book provides an exhaustive collection of basic professional recipes. The author assumes that the reader is well versed in making everything from genoise to buttercream and therefore the instructions are brief. A great resource for pastry chefs who need basic institutional sized recipes that can then be customized to their liking. After all..... pastry is art!