The Selected Letters of Theodore Roosevelt [Hardcover]

H. W. Brands (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2001

Previously available only in a long-out-of-print, eight-volume edition, Theodore Roosevelt's letters are now accessible in this single-volume compendium of the most revealing of the former president's correspondence. Featuring over 1,000 letters to such influential addressees as Jefferson Davis, Frederick Remington, John Muir, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Rudyard Kipling, Upton Sinclair, Booker T. Washington, Jane Addams, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and a who's who of presidents—William McKinley, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt—this compilation fully illuminates the private and public personas of one of the most accomplished men in American history.

In little more than six decades, Roosevelt was a rancher, historian, reformer, New York state assemblyman, New York City police commissioner, assistant secretary of the Navy, military hero, governor of New York, vice president, twenty-sixth president, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, hunter, conservationist, and Amazon explorer. To each undertaking he brought his signature passion, humor, and thoughtfulness, all fully evident in these remarkable letters.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

T.R. aficionados already have many carefully indexed and annotated sources to turn to. Elting Morison and John M. Blum edited the eight-volume edition of T.R.'s letters, published between 1951 and '54. The best of his family correspondence can be found in Letters from Theodore Roosevelt to Anna Roosevelt Cowles, 1870-1918 (1924), Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children (1919, revised and retitled A Bully Father for its 1995 reprint), and Letters to Kermit from Theodore Roosevelt, 1902-1908 (1946). Meanwhile, T.R.'s most important political correspondence is highlighted in Selections from the Correspondence of Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge, 1884-1918 (1925). Thus Texas A&M history professor and Roosevelt biographer Brands (T.R.: The Last Romantic), unable to add anything new in the way of previously unpublished letters, relies for value on selecting those that "illuminate Roosevelt the man, the public figure, the polymath." T.R.'s missives to the likes of Nicholas Murray Butler and New York congressmanWilliam Chanler do indeed make interesting reading, and this collection of 1 ,000 letters may serve to introduce new readers to the 26th president. The book suffers greatly, however, from a lack of explanatory notes. Brief one- and two-page essays introduce the book's six sections. Brands provides only occasional one-line bios for some (not all) of T.R.'s correspondents; likewise, readers have frighteningly few annotations to give context to references within letters. Who exactly was Finley Peter Dunne, and why did T.R. write him, in 1899, in part to anxiously beg to make his acquaintance? Brands's book is full of such riddles. Brands also fails to provide precise citations as to where the original manuscripts for these letters (scattered in libraries around the world) might be found.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Teddy Roosevelt remains one of the most interesting and controversial of American presidents, and publication of his selected letters in a single volume should stimulate further interest and debate about the man and his work. Editor Brands (history, Texas A & M), the author of T.R.: The Last Romantic as well as many other books on 20th-century American history, has selected approximately one of every 100 letters produced by the prolific letter-writing president. Brands organizes the letters chronologically into six chapters, with brief introductions to each and minimal annotation. The main criterion for inclusion was "to illuminate Roosevelt not necessarily the events or persons of which he wrote" a goal that Brands admirably achieves. The TR who emerges from these pages appears in all his inquisitiveness, intelligence, energy, and eclectic interests, as well as his stubbornness and biases. Recommended for all libraries. Thomas J. Baldino, Wilkes Univ., Wilkes-Barre, PA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Cooper Square Press; 1 edition (August 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081541126X
• ISBN-13: 978-0815411260
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,565,676 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book -- Especially for the Devoted Student of TR, February 16, 2008

By 

Scott Billigmeier (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Selected Letters of Theodore Roosevelt (Hardcover)

Many excellent historians have taken on the subject of Theodore Roosevelt but, in my opinion, the first rank belongs to Edmund Morris and Professor H.W. Brands. Their knowledge of and passion for the topic of TR is unsurpassed (although their styles are quite different). Brand's "Selected Letters ..." is not really for the casually interested although they will indeed find his widely flung correspondence entertaining and informative. The more devoted student of TR, however, will really find this book interesting and useful. It offers up a more private and candid Roosevelt and, as such, provides some of the context and color behind the large and small historical events of his life.

4.0 out of 5 stars great selection of letters, February 16, 2009

By 

Gilbert Michaud (canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Selected Letters of Theodore Roosevelt (Paperback)

worth a read . in fact a great addition to any theodore roosevelt library