Customer Reviews

The Boys of '98: Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a good basic book about the Rough Riders and the Spanish-American war. The anecdotes are interesting, and it doesn't get bogged down in a lot of detail, which should assist the casual reader. That having been said, there are a number of factual errors contained within it, and a more careful editing would have eliminated the redundancies I came across, including using the same quote more than once. If you want a quick overview of the subject, however, and don't care to delve too deeply into it, this is the book for you.

This book is still second best to the Rooosevelt work. It covers much of the same period, yet is not as frank and revealing as the TR book. It was a very quick and enjoyable read, so for the casual reader, this would be a perfect book.

Dale Walker has managed to make the history of a military campaign readable, and enjoyable. This book moves along well, and is packed with information, as well as fleshing out the characters involved. It is an even-handed treatment of the Cuban campaign. I did find one error (which must be a typo, as Walker is too good an historian to make this gross an error) when it mentions that the Spanish Mauser fires a .45 caliber slug, when in fact it was 7mm caliber. Walker uses a lot of sources for this book, including the press accounts of the military correspondents, and interviews with the surviving Rough Riders. In all, it fleshes out the campaign, and is meatier and more accessible than any other treatment of the Rough Riders. The inclusion of little-known facts, such as Edgar Rice Burroughs' attempt to join the regiment, are gems. A splendid effort!

Dale Walker, interested in the wonderful varieties of human beings and their motives and their deeds, has found a splendid subject in the TR's Rough Riders and their exploits in Cuba. Every kind of foible and heroism are here, seen by an eye delighted by all of it. First-rate history.

You bet it is!

Speaking as a college graduate with a degree in History, I can testify to the usually dry manner in which history is presented in some of the more popular works.

Mr. Walker has given the subject of Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders a fine literary treatment. After having lived through years of having to force myself to read the most boring and dry works on history during my college days, I am left with one burning question. Why can't all authors treat their choosen areas of history with he same enthusiasm as Mr. Walker obviously has for his?

Have even the vaguest interest in the last decade of the 19th century? A passing curosity about Theodore Roosevelt? Ever wondered what was really going on during our assault on Cuba? Then grab this book. Its guaranteed to entertain even those who hated history class!

A story specifically about the assault of Spanish fortifications on San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish American War by the First United States Volunteer Cavalry; a unit perhaps better known as Roosevelt's Rough Riders. However, as telling this story - the events of which unfolded in a short span of time; hours in point of fact - without a broader context, author Dale Walker has provided an appropriate background. And that framework provides for some strikingly interesting, though ultimately irrelevant - at least to the story itself - comparisons with more modern history.

Both the Spanish American War and the 2003 Invasion of Iraq had causus belli that were eventually proven to be invalid. Both effected regime-change. Both had periods of formal conflict that were limited, as were the US causalities incurred during that period. Both also saw more significant causalities resulting from insurrections that went on for a period of time longer than the war itself. Finally, the two conflicts saw the US position in the world arena change.

Mr. Walker's previous publishing effort was entitled "Legends and Lies: Great Mysteries of the American West," which is, in many ways the polar opposite to the vision of John Ford, perhaps the greatest chronicler - certainly in motion pictures, at least - of the mythic West. He states in his preface that the opportunity to meet living participants spurred him to produce this work.

And a very good military history it is! It is written in a somewhat ebullient style, full of hyperbole, that I initially found a bit off-putting at first. But, I came to believe the prose was quite reasonable and appropriate for the notion of Manifest Destiny that remained part of the American culture of the so-called Gilded Age.

The narrative brings to use the key players in the story, ranging from government officials; the media, both jingoistic and otherwise; the military, itself undergoing the pains of evolution that were the outgrowth of the American Civil War and the end of the plains wars and, last, but certainly not least, the United States itself. The interaction of these people and ideas - sometimes synergistic, other times not - are presented in relatively unbiased statements. The reader sees a country seeking to oust another from its colonial possessions for a variety of reasons. This mission is to be acted upon by a land and sea forces, where the latter is far more guaranteed of success. The former is a agglomeration of regular army units and the usual - at least until well into the 20th Century - marginally qualified and equipped but externally optimistic militia. One other entity is thrust onto the stage...or rather that entity thrust itself out front. Although authorized by Congress, the Rough Riders were - at least in this reviewer's opinion - a populist organization, more akin the Communards of Paris in the 1870s. That their leader - not organizationally, mind you - was as much a throw back to Winston Churchill - who passes through the story early one - must not be ignored. There were two other volunteer cavalry units authorized and formed. Neither was committed to action. The difference is simply and factually that Theodore Roosevelt was involved with the one unit that did go overseas; that did fight in Cuba and did, effect a major success in the strategy that led to Spain losing Cuba. Without him and his quest to be in combat - coupled with the political influence to amke it happen - this story would not have happened. Might the outcome of the war have been the same? The answer is, simply, yes. Roosevelt participated in the conflict but the participation was not essential. Still, a good story.

With

This book is not a comprehensive account of the Spanish-American War, much less of even the Rough Riders themselves. While the focus is almost entirely on the Rough Riders and Theodore Roosevelt, it is a fairly short book and not extremely in-depth. I'm not really saying this as a criticism. I really liked the book. It was a fast read that gave a basic overview of the war, the formation of the Rough Riders, and their role in the war.

The tone of the book seems to be somewhat light-hearted, and often highlights TR's unpredictable nature. I would strongly recommend this book to non-history buffs, as it is an insightful and enjoyable read, but doesn't really require any real grasp of history to appreciate or understand. But I would also recommend it to those who ARE history buffs, because we all enjoy a casual read every now and then, right? This one is worth it.

Theodore Roosevelt is one of the most enigmatic presidents in our nation's history. He was the consumate man of action, but an intellectual who wrote histories of his nation's past. He was an accomplished big game hunter who was also one of the nation's first conservationists, and founded the national park system. He was probably the most belligerent president we ever had, almost aching to fight in wars---and won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the end to the Russo-Japanese War. And of course, he was the New York dandy who became a cowboy, and led the storied and legendary Rough Riders into combat in Cuba during the brief Spanish American War, in 1898. This last is the subject of the present book, an introductory account of the campaign that focuses almost exclusively on the 1st Volunteer Cavalry regiment and its remarkable commander.

The book spends a good deal of time talking about the various personalities involved, and only briefly deals with the battles the American army, or the Rough Riders for that matter, were involved in while in Cuba. Those personalities, chiefly Roosevelt, but also the various other people involved in the fighting, are the heart of this book and its greatest strength. The narrative of the battles themselves is somewhat less clear, and not so engrossing.

I read Legends and Lies a couple of years ago, so I was looking forward to this book, and frankly I was surprised to see how dissappointing The Boys of '98 was. The story is reasonably well-told, but there are repititions of minutae on a number of occasions. I am at a loss to answer how this could occur: it almost looks as if the book was rushed into publication, but since I read the paperback (which presumably appeared the standard year after the hardcover) they should have had ample time to rewrite it, and clean up the prose. The whole point to minutae like this is that it's interesting *once*; repeated multiple times it gets old fast. Given that, I'm sorry to report that the main thing I found satisfying about this book was how short it was. Hopefully, Mr. Walker can do better next time.

I found the book a little lite on facts, and in a cynical tone which to me was not worthy of the author, and which is not at all worthy of Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders. The reader can't help but think less of the Rough Riders and their great achivements after reading this book. I also found the "politically correct revisionism" (the defense by the author of the desertion under fire, by the Colored Troops during the battle of San Juan Hill) a silly argument. If you want to read a better book about the Rough Riders, read TR's book.

Dale Walker again proves himself to be one of the country's finest popular historians, and the peer of Stephen Ambrose.

His study of the Rough Riders is history at its finest. He examines Theodore Roosevelt (who dreamed up the idea of a brigade of tough westerners), the cowboys and frontiersmen who formed themselves into this legendary outfit, and the way these men acquitted themselves in a vicious battle.

Walker vividly depicts the men, the obstacles, the politics, and the ultimate charge that turned these cowboys into American heroes in the brief Spanish-American War. He includes a fine description of the roots of the conflict and its impact on the world.

This is a magnificent book. If you want to read one book about that war, this is the book to read.