Cuddling Teddy Roosevelt is kinda strange...but cuddling a soft bear is better. Who would've known that the teddy bear was named after a president!
In this children's picture book, children will be amazed that they know a bit of history after they read this beautifully written/illustrated book.
~Erin
Age 11

This book appeals to all teddy bear lovers- young and old! It is a great way to share history with children. My kindergarten class throughly enjoyed it cover to cover! A must for anyone who ever had / or has a teddy bear!!

I didn't read the book. I gave it as a birthday gift to my niece who is a teddy bear enthusiast. The rating I gave was based upon her overwhelming response to the book.

She was so taken with the story that she excitedly wrote a letter to the author. To his credit, the author responded with a handwritten letter that, along with the book, became a show-and-tell project for her 2nd grade class. She talks about the whole thing with stars in her eyes. It's truly priceless.

I give 5 stars to both the book and the author.

Brilliantly written non-fiction biography using countless primary sources. An amazing new character never before presented to the general public. If this book had not been sent to me as a present I would have never heard of it. Apparently it has been sold only as a regional book, but I can assure any reader, it will have a national following in due course. Very highly recommended. Well worth the read. You will come away from this book thinking about it for weeks, and frankly, you will soon pick it up to read it again.

As a history major in college I developed a taste for the truth that can only be found in biographies. Over the years I have kept a small library in my home and under my bed to read at night, prior to retiring. The book by Mr. Buchanan is a detailed, accurate account of this man and his relationships to the men around him and his world. Being a product of the Mississippi Delta, I can see Holt Collier in the deep bayou's of the old Delta, hunting the bears. I admire the writer's style in his ability to place me there beside Holt all along the way in this book. There, in the realities of Holt's world, the reader walks his paths, thinks his thoughts, and feels the anger he feels.

Finally I would like to thank Mr. Buchanan for this effort and look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

Minor Ferris Buchanan excells in this historical document of Holt Collier: an ex-slave, Confederate soldier, and excellent big-game hunter. I found the portrayal of this very accomplished individual more intriguing and inspiring than any other Afro-American biography I've ever come across (including those of Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X)
I loved it!

This collection is a sampler of several hundred Teddy Roosevelt quotations. It is a little book, the kind you are more likely to pick up and browse, than read through from beginning to end.

The editor has conveniently arranged TR's missives by topic. The reader will find our most energetic president holding forth on politics, foreign affairs, voting, citizenship, family, children, motherhood, Lincoln, virtue, boxing, war, and himself among the categories. In short, this sampling covers many of Roosevelt's incredibly varied interests.

Because the topics are so varied, this collection will serve to give those not well aquainted with TR a good taste for the man's energy, passions and world views. For those of us who are TRphiles, this book is a treasure trove, for it calls forth in many ways the truly unique aspects that serve to make Roosevelt perhaps the most "American" of Americans.

Also included are books by TR, quotes about him, his thoughts on the Rough Riders as well as his stirring and famous "...In the Arena" speech.

An inspiring little tome handsomely presented.

This book is like a: "word for the day" calendar, or a "horoscope of the day" calendar. Since this book is 184 pages; read one quote per day, then start over. BULLY PULPIT is a glimpse of T.R.'S life. It's not as time-consuming as a biography would be...

Not since: MORNINGS ON HORSEBACK have I run across a book as interesting as this one.

ENJOY!

This book of TR's maxims is a wonderful little reference to have. I keep it in the bathroom for quick reading, and I'm never disappointed!

If he had never entered the public square, Teddy Roosevelt would have created a noble legacy somewhere. He lived every moment of his life to the fullest extent and loved every second of it! He embodied the same ardent zest in the boxing ring, watching birds, being a cowboy, traveling the world, and leading America to its debut as a superpower. Yet, the one role that brought him the most satisfaction among the many diverse parts he joyously played was that of family man. Although he sedulously guard their privacy, enough references exist to reveal the power he derived from his family's love.

The timelessness of ideals can be witnessed again and again in Roosevelt's detailed autobiography, and the parallels to modern day America as are striking as they are plentiful.

In one instance of foresight Roosevelt lambastes so-called "party bosses"--those who manipulate a community, "a man who does not gain his power by open means but by secret means and usually by corrupt means." He points out that "in communities where there is poverty and ignorance, the conditions are ripe for the growth of a boss," and this type of reprobate will be "especially common in big cities (because the boss) fulfills toward the people of his district in rough and rowdy fashion the position of friend and protector." From these snippets of his dissertation, it's easy to wonder if somehow President Roosevelt boarded a time machine and met Al Sharpton. A more thorough description of the unordained reverend (and his many counterparts throughout history) cannot be found than this astute indictment.

He expounds at some length on the president's scared privilege of dispensing clemency and stresses the there "nothing more necessary from the standpoint of good citizenship than the ability to steel one's heart in this matter of granting pardons." (How he must have spun in his grave at Clinton's going-out-of-business pardon sale.) Talking about the anguished imploring of family members (which caused him great anxiety) and the bumptious attempted influence by friends of celebrated criminals (which caused him great anger), Mr. Roosevelt realized that this presidential prerogative should only be used to advance the cause of justice. The remote possibility that pardoning could be abused (a reality that did not develop at the presidential level until 100 years after his term) made him think that life imprisonment was a poor substitute for the death penalty. In a related vain, he saw the insanity plea as a scurrilous cop out; "I have scant sympathy with the plea of insanity advanced to save a man from the consequences of crime, when unless that crime had been committed, it would have been impossible to commit him to an asylum for the insane."

Spotlight-adoring Senator John McCain routinely invokes the memory of President Roosevelt, presumptiously implying that he is somehow the heir apparent to the early 1900's maverick. Examining Teddy Roosevelt's life shows that those similarities exist almost solely in the Arizona senator's mind. While Roosevelt's unwavering integrity made him unpopular, at times, with many in his own party, McCain fluctuating political postures seem to occur primarily to generate headlines. The former president justifiably felt tremendous self-respect--a byproduct of adhering to probity's rubrics. The Arizona senator self-serving pandering for popularity would be comical were it not so insulting that the philodox so willingly slanders a bona fide American icon to further his own career.

Ironically, this reviewer read Roosevelt's disdainful view of abortion on January 22--the anniversary of the Supreme Court's infamous Roe vs. Wade decision. Discussing the crimes where even receiving a request to consider a pardon assaulted his sense of decency, he listed, "rape, or the circulation of indecent literature, ..."white slave" traffic (prostitution), or wife murder, or gross cruelty to women and children, or seduction and abandonment, or the action of some man in getting a girl whom he had seduced to commit an abortion." To President Roosevelt there was no other plausible reason why a woman would kill her unborn child. Some would call him sexist today, but the venom he felt (and the punishment he unhesitantly administered) to the men who committed these crimes should show the fallacy of such a ridiculous accusation.

Topical comparisons can be found in his discussion on the importance of both corporations to maintain ethical practices and for the government to refrain from needless meddling in business matters. Futhermore he offers a reasoned dialectic on immigration, strongly supporting it but trenchantly articulating that establishing tight limits can be sensible rather than xenophobic.

It is also refreshing to know that the irresponsible peaceniks vociferously denouncing America's full-scale war on terrorism have had their equally harebrained doppelgangers throughout history. To all of these possibly well intentioned pacifists, Teddy Roosevelt admonishes "the true preachers of peace...never hesitate to choose righteous war when it is the only alternative to unrighteous peace."

Similarly regarding the current threat America faces, Mr. Roosevelt puts forth some comfort and assurance with an unforeseeable but apt reference to President Bush; "no man can lead a public career really worth leading, no man can act with rugged independence in serious crises, nor strike at great abuses, nor afford to make powerful and unscrupulous foes, if he is himself vulnerable in his private character." Every American should be thankful that the terrorists did not strike during the previous administration and also grateful the example of heroes like Theodore Roosevelt stands as everlasting inspiration to our nation's current and future leaders.

Teddy is definitely an egomaniac, but he does write well. He also benefits from a good plot, his extrodanary life. Jolly good read.

Outstanding! This book is a tome of philosophy, adventure, intrigue, and above all, inspiration. Notwithstanding these encomia however, the reader should beware before making a hegira into its noble pages that this autobiography does not follow the traditional structure of a "biography." Rather it can be described as being a compendium of T.R.'s philosophy on life. The true strength of its pages being found in how T.R.'s experiences and actions staunchly uphold and support his 'vigor of life' and probity which he so often addressed as being fundamental to all good Americans. Accordingly, I suggest a first-time reader of T.R. would be best served by initially reading a more "objective" biography of T.R. (I suggest Nathan Miller's Theodore Roosevelt, A Life) in order to become familiar with the events and time frames involved. This will allow the reader to more appreciate the nature, values and beliefs of the great man as told in this book by the ultimate authority, himself.

Along with being completely inspired by a man of such high moral values, the factual anecdotes related in this book comfort you in the knowledge that this hero practiced what he preached. In a speech by his own hand, T.R. embodied his own life; "The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;...who strives valiantly...who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat."

T.R. was a naturalist, legislator, cowboy, businessman, soldier, author, conservationist, U.S. President, world explorer, and above all an inspirational "doer of deeds." This book eloquently tells the reader why he felt he needed to perform these deeds and what was going through his mind all the while.

Anton Chaitkin was persecuted for releasing the most in depth research on the traitors to America throughout it's existance. Anton Chaitkin also uncovered the document from the library of congress proving that Bush Sr's father, Presscott Bushes bank "Union Bank" was shut down by Roosevelt in 1942, under the trading with the pact for funding the Nazi party and Thyssin Steel money. Fritz Thyssin wrote the book "I funded Hitler" and was responsible for more than 50% of the war drive steel and iron. Democratic Presidental Candidate Lyndon LaRouche has exposed these impierail traitors to the ideas of the American Revolution the the civil rights movement. It is time we Americans got off our high and holy degenerate [behinds] and acted in the spirits of Ben Franklin, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Aberham Lincoln, McKinley, and FDR.

This book has to be one of the most important books that any media scientist could possibly read. It is pure art in the sense of art as an updater of consciousness.Wonderful book.

You can study American History in High School or College, but you will never get the in depth research involved in this book. I have never seen such a great list of referances andbibliography. Why haven't more historians been able to just tell it like it is instead of just sucking up to New World Order Crazies? How many people have ever heard of the "American System of Economics" as opposed to the British East India "Free Trade Buy cheap,Sell dear slavocracy. If you really want to know your history, Read this book and study its' referances.

Frederick C. Selous was one of the giants of Vitorian Africa and in this work, written at the urging of President Theodore Roosevelt, he compiles many of his most keen observations about life and wildlife in Africa. Fascinating not only as a period piece, Selous's thoughts are remarkably prescient about the state of game in Africa even today. Though it was written before the rise of the commercial poaching that has ravaged so much of the continent, the book gives an excellent insight into the need to carefully observe, record, and interpret the ecological signs found in the wild. Clear and lively in style, the tales told within encompass everything from dietary habits of hyaena to the effects of sleeping sickness on agriculture. Especially interesting are the authors remarkably forward-thinking ideas on race relations, ideas that would not become the rule in southern Africa for over 75 years. An altogether satisfying read.

I have read plenty of elephant hunting volumes in the likes of Bell, Stigand and several others but this Selous book is different. It's not entirely an account of Selous' adventures with his rifle but rather as the first portion of the book's title suggests, an informative wrap-up of the ways and characteristics of various African game. Selous is a unsurpassable raconteur when it comes to telling of big game, as this book proves. There's a chapter on Selous' search for the elusive inyala antelope, and it is of great interest. A book well worth parting with your cash for. Simply a true must-buy !

I enjoyed Santiago Rag. As a European I had little knowledge of the American-Cuban-Spanish war and found this story an interesting blend of fiction and fact. Based around the experiences of a young male, we are taken on a series of adventures into the formation and action fighting of Roosevelt's Rough Riders (I had heard about them previously!). As seen mostly through the eyes of our naïve hero we experience the shock and horror of war. But we also have the insights into the broader political issues as might have been contemplated by Teddy Roosevelt. I know purists who don't accept fiction mixed with the facts, but they miss the point of this kind of thoroughly researched story-documentary. Authors like Al Gowan are able to enrich the facts and put the flesh on the bones of historical events. It may not be exactly what happened but an author's insights and imaginative narratives can increase our understanding of history. Set against his personally observed localities, the author creates a fast moving story and an atmosphere that is convincing.

Just to say I'm enjoying SANTIAGO RAG. The pacing is dynamic, the vignettes vivid the descriptions meaty. I like this p. 39, "The Indian's eyes flashed, anger Gabriel had not yet seen. He tood the daguerreotype and replaced it in the pouch. An ember from the dying fire exploded

History buffs and everyday readers alike will find Santiago Rag an engrossing novel profiling the men who fought in Cuba and at the battle of San Juan Hill. Al Gowan uses information passed down from his grandfather and written accounts of participants to weave a compelling story of the hardships in those days and the battle against the enemy and disease. Included are photographs he took recently in Cuba of locations described in the book. As we celebrate the anniversary of the Spanish-American War, Santiago Rag is a great way to experience what those times were like. Jim Armstrong, Publisher and Editor, MILITARY RETIREE NEWS, Tampa, Florida

In 1909, just after the end of his term as President, Theodore Roosevelt traveled to Africa for a year long safari.The trip was a major undertaking ; hundreds of porters were needed to carry his baggage. Roosevelt's son, Kermit came along, taking photographs which are reproduced in the book. Roosevelt and company bag hundred of animals. It appears that all hunting rules were suspended for the ex-president. Roosevelt and son are soon blasting away at anything and everything that comes into view. British East Africa is described in terms that make today's politically correct readers wince. Attitudes have changed dramatically in less than one hundred years. It is odd to hear Roosevelt describe parts of Africa as a "white man's country," suitable for large scale settlement by Europeans. The book bogs down and I was unable to read it without skimming through some parts. The descriptions of marching through wilderness and chasing after game on foot and on horseback seem to go on forever. There is a lot of great infomation here even if it is necessary to become your own editor by skipping though tedious parts.

This book gives you the genuine flavor of safari 80 years ago.

Not being very good with a gun, having little outdoorsman skills, and not being in the best shape of my life, reading this book was better than being there. If I was there, I would miss the animals, I would be too tired to enjoy it, and besides all of that, Africa is not as it was 100 years ago.
I have just begun to reread this book, and I don't know how many times this is. I enjoy it each and every time I pick it up.

This is one of the best historical biographies I've ever read, and the book does deserves high praise, but there are a few flaws--mostly arising from failing to really cover some established points.

The brilliance of the book is that it limits itself to Roosevelt's pre-presidential life. The key to understanding Roosevelt in office is to understand how he came to be the man he was and, by limiting this effort to that period, the book affords the reader to contemplate the man as opposed to the president. The fact that Roosevelt lived an utterly amazing life certainly helps, along with a writing style that approaches the novelistic without sacrificing the historic. This allows for a lively and well paced--yet academically rigorous-- effort.

The flaws, such as they are, are in the academically rigorous realm. The frustration I had with the book was it raises points of serious import about Roosevelt--even engages in some conjecture--but never really addresses them. A case in point is Roosevelt's childhood illnesses. Many--including Morris here--speculate there may have been a significant psychological component to his childhood illnesses relating to his relationship to his quite austere and demanding father. Obviously, if a case can be made for such a circumstance, the implications for the development of some of Roosevelt's adult attitudes and beliefs could be significant. However, Morris raises the issue but never really deals with it. There are a few other instances of this. They represent the only real flaw in the book.

These shortcomings notwithstanding, what Morris has produced is an extraordinarily detailed yet wonderfully accessible rigorous examination of the growth and development of Roosevelt the man. This is a truly wonderful book.

Certainly Theodore Roosevelt is one of the best known Presidents and best known men in history of the United States. His exploits as a frontiersman, his courage in leading the Rough Riders up San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War, and his storied achievements as a career politician (from state assemblyman all the way up to President) are all well known. However, most of what people know about 'T.R.' is limited to sound bite quality historical facts. It's not a common occurrence for people to invest the time in reading any number of lengthy and ponderous biographies about Roosevelt. It is important to do so, though, to understand the man and the best way to accomplish that is to read Edmund Morris' sweeping epic "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt".

These days, Morris may be better known for his the controversy created by his pseudo-biography of Ronald Reagan, "Dutch". Questionable though his literary choice may have been in that instance, lest anyone forget that Morris is a gifted, respected, and accomplished writer. "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" is the first in planned trilogy about the life of the famous 'Bull Moose' ("Theodore Rex" deals with his years as President and the third book has yet to be published). "The Rise..." gives the reader an intimate look into life of T.R. Culled from public records and private diaries and correspondences, this book focuses as much of the 'why' of Roosevelt's actions as the 'what'.

In "The Rise...", one learns that it was the horrible experience of his father's attempt to be confirmed for New York collections commissioner (a strenuous experience that may have led to the elder's death) that formed the basis of Theodore's hatred of 'machine' politics and his lifelong dedication to Civil Service and political reform. His famed political battles throughout his life can be traced back to the trauma of that experience and Morris does well to capture the emotion and impact that had on T.R. Teddy's relationship with his father is explored deeply in the earlier chapters and reveals a lot of what made him the man he became. As he was burdened with ill-health as a youngster, his father frequently took him into the wilderness and open country to improve his health. It was there that Teddy's health improved and a fierce love of the outdoors began. It was a love that manifested itself in years of annual trips out west to hunt, farm, and cultivate the outdoors. Much of what he learned from this led Roosevelt to become the staunch conservationist who was responsible for much of the legislation protecting national wildlife. In addition the exposure to the wild, Roosevelt's father also impressed upon him the importance of a classical education and, as a result, T.R. became a voracious reader with an appetite for any and all knowledge.

Those are just a few examples from the early of life of Roosevelt that Morris recreates so vividly. Other areas filled with greater depth than in other books included Roosevelt's first marriage to Alice Lee and the traumatic effect her sudden death had on him. It also highlights the various highs and lows Roosevelt encountered throughout his storied, pre-Presidential political career. Registering at just under 800 pages, "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" is an amazing biography and well worth the time invested to read. Few books can transcend the typical fact-based monotony of most biographies of long-dead historical figures. Yet, "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt", dealing strictly with his years before becoming President, is just such a transcendent book.

I had no idea that I would love this book as much as I did. I had no idea this book was as good as it is. I've never read a biography that drew me in so completely from the first paragraph of the first page of the prologue. I absolutely savored each page of "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" and while President Roosevelt's life is fascinating, it is Mr. Morris' unique style of story-telling that made reading this book such a joy. I doubt I would have enjoyed as much a TR biography written by another.

I knew very little about Roosevelt going into this book and I can't understand why, as a New Yorker, I never learned about this most remarkable New Yorker in school. Children should learn his story - it's an exciting adventure that could ignite a lifelong love of history in a child.

In my opinion, the thing that makes "The Rise..." great is that Edmund Morris worked so hard to convey his enthusiasm for his subject through his writing. His fascination with TR is contagious. I caught it immediately and am so glad that I did.

Roosevelt was simply amazing. A true Renaissance Man. He overcame childhood illness with sheer will and determination. He authored books on subjects as wide-ranging as naval history, ornithology, the West. He took the New York Assembly by storm at 23. He was (to name a few things) a rancher, a mayoral candidate, a reformer, a police commissioner, an assistant Secretary of the Navy. And then came the Spanish-American War and his heroic stint as leader of the Rough Riders. He was semi-reluctantly drafted to be McKinley's Vice President and "The Rise..." takes us up to the days after an assassin's bullets felled McKinley and Roosevelt was (at 42) on the brink of the Presidency as McKinley hovered near death.

I can't imagine the 21-year wait for "Theodore Rex" - it is a luxury to jump seamlessly from this book to its sequel, as I have.

Although there is so much to this book, one thing I found particularly interesting in terms of the insight it offered into Roosevelt's maturity, wisdom, ambition and keen awareness of how to use the media came from his days as a New York Police Department Commissioner. There was a rarely enforced Sunday Excise Law which prohibited the Sunday sale of alcoholic beverages. Roosevelt sought to enforce the law without exception. It caused an uproar - he was absolutely hated by some (yet loved by others - temperance groups). But he wanted to expose corruption in the ranks and he was savvy enough to realize that sometimes any publicity is good publicity. And he was giving a lesson to legislators as well. "Roosevelt argued that honest enforcement of an unpopular law was the most effective way to bring about its repeal. Legislators should think twice about passing laws to favor some voters, then neglecting them to please others." (p.520) The lawmakers were trying to have it both ways, in passing a law to gain favor with the pro-temperance rural vote yet not enforcing it in order to cater to the tavern owners and those opposed to the law. Roosevelt exposed their scheme and cleaned up the ranks of the police department in one fell swoop. And he kept his name in the papers, gaining widespread notoriety.

"The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" is a wonderful book that richly deserved all the accolades it received. Morris makes other very talented biographers pale in comparison. You will love this book.

"A Bully Father" is a delightful insight into a remarkable American family. The first portion of the book is a biographical narrative of Theodore Roosevelt, with a strong emphasis on his family life. The remainder is a collection of letters from TR to his children. Although the letters are identified by topic, they are otherwise left to speak for themselves.

These letters were generally written to his children while they were away at school. The letters are treasures from the Age of Letters. Things which today would be communicated in person, by telephone or e-mail were, in TR's day, communicated and preserved in correspondence. The letters cover a wide variety of topics. Events of daily life of the Roosevelt family and evaluations, favorable and unfavorable, of the child constitute the majority of the letters. Nothing was too small for TR's attention. Horse and carriage rides, playing with children or wrestling with Japanese wrestlers, his tennis partners and White House visitors are all recorded for our enjoyment. TR also used these letters to give vocational advice as well as to comment on public events of the day. TR also expounds on his views on literature and history, as well as his views on family values. The classical literature which he and "Mother" read to the children are mind boggling!

This is a book which is enjoyable to read and also makes you think. TR's relationship with his children and his interactions with them provide a standard against which we can measure our own lives. Read this book and treasure it!

Teddy shines through as a true inspiration to all fathers. I read this book, and then "played bear" with my children.

The greatest legacy a father can leave the world is his children. Theodore Roosevelt is more popularly remembered in history as the great Trust Buster and the hero of San Juan Hill, but his greatest contribution was something that until this book, has been overlooked, the impact of a loving and nurturing father on his children.

Reading this book, one gets the unmistakable impression that Teddy Roosevelt was infinitely more concerned about the lives of his children than he ever was about the affairs of the Presidency. Readers are left with the impression that at a moments notice, he would give up everything for the welfare of even one of his kids. What a legacy to leave for history.

In an age where families are under siege and children are becoming more like trophies that are displayed, Teddy Roosevelt's letters to his children shine as a beacon pointing us to what being a parent is all about, raising, loving, and nurturing our children.

What ever happened to writing letters? The art of letter writing has all but passed away. In T.R.'s time reading letters was a family event, something that was eagerly anticipated by the entire family. Today's family is forced to deal with the constant barrage of faxes, e-mails and cellular phones. Family conversation has been reduced to digital bytes rather than meaningful conversation. George Washington may have been the father of our nation, but Teddy Roosevelt had a far more lasting impact, he was a father to his children.