Rating: 
Summary: Charge Into Americana!
Review: 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. At times the descriptions of the individual soldiers can make the book a bit slow, but for description of the action, it is great. Enjoy this classic piece of Americana!
Rating:
Summary: Charge Into Americana!
Review: 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. At times the descriptions of the individual soldiers can make the book a bit slow, but for description of the action, it is great. Enjoy this classic piece of Americana!
Rating: 
Summary: Beware the Captions
Review: My comments are based on the 1997 hardback version of this book.
The following may have been corrected in the 2000 paperback. Richard Bak collected many photographs of the Rough Riders to illustrate Roosevelt's text, and this is good. However, he wasn't very careful with his captions. For example, the photograph leading off Chapter One "Raising the Regiment" is captioned "Colonel Wood and Roosevelt in Texas. Roosevelt's paunch would disappear in Cuba after he lost twenty pounds in the tropical heat." However, other photographs of Roosevelt at this time do not show a paunchy man. Also, both he and Wood seem younger than the men in this photo. Later in this chapter, there is a photograph again showing the an identified as Wood, captioned "Colonel Leonard Wood (second from right)..." In the background of this photograph, there is an automobile (looking closer in style to a Model A than a Model T), and the other three men in the photograph are dressed in Army uniforms from the 1920s. The conclusion is that these men are NOT Roosevelt and Wood, but the actors who played them in the 1927 silent movie about the Rough Riders that was filmed in San Antonio with the assistance of the US Army's Second Division stationed at Fort Sam Houston. In the section "The Mystery of the Maine," the photograph identified as the Maine is not the Maine that blew up in Havana Harbor, which only had two smoke stacks. This is probably the later World War I Maine. So, Roosevelt's text is good. The collection of photographs are good. But verify those captions and the conslusions based upon them.
Rating: 
Summary: Rough read
Review: My expectations were high but this is just a poorly written book. About half the narrative is about the characters who joined the Rough Riders. Very little of the book deals with the battles in Cuba and the sections that do make the exploits of the Rough Riders seem grossly over rated. Roosevelt seems to write withh the intent on securing his place in history. And, if that wasn't enough, he includes self-serving appendices that laud his conduct on the battlefield and support his yearning for the medal of honor. I found his writing style tedious and often repetitious--you'll encounter countless references to the smokeless ammunition used by the Spanish. Enough already!
Rating: 
Summary: Accurate account of Rough Riders by one of them!
Review: My grandfather was a member of Troop A of the Rough Riders and wrote a series of articles for our local newspaper (Champaign, IL) on his experiences. After reading his comments and then reading the book written by Roosevelt I know first hand that Col. Roosevelt told it like it was. "Rough" was putting it mildly. My grandfather survived but had re-occurring bouts of maleria throughout his life. I transcribed his accounts into a family album for my children and grandchildren so he would not be forgotten. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone wanting to learn about our history.
Rating:
Summary: Very good book on a very interesting Regiment...
Review: The 1st USV (the Rough Riders) has to be one of the most interesting units in US military history. The collection of characters who filled its ranks could spawn dozens of other titles. This book is WELL written by Teddy Roosevelt, one of our most colorful persidents, is a frank and great account of the life of this unit. I found it quite enjoyable, and didn't feel that the book was TR blowing his own horn, he cared very much for his men and this shows through in this book. A must for any history buff.
Rating:
Summary: The Boys and Men Who Charged Up San Juan Hill with Teddy
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Great reading on TR
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A tremendous view of TR's "Splendid Little War"
Review: What impresses me about this book is how it differs from most any other narrative of any war I have read before or since. The battlefields of Cuba take on Homerian proportions in this book. Roosevelt sings the praises of the brave soldiers of his regiment (not least of all, himself) and paints a vivid picture of the harsh (yet glorious) realities of war. Rough Riders is valuable as, more than anything, an example of historical paradigm. It is a perspective on the values of a people and a living example of the way in which war has been viewed as a part of the American experience.
Rating:
Summary: Roosevelt's Place in History
Review: While prior reviews have criticized Mr. Roosevelt's writing style, and justly so, he never claimed in the book to be a novelist by trade. But his description of the way the military operated before the turn of the century is very insightful into a time long gone which will never return. Today, there is no way the US Military would accept civilian volunteers with only 30 days training to fight on the front lines against battle hardened soldiers from Spain or anywhere else. To fully appreciate this book, you need to read it in context of that changing time between the Civil War and WW-I. Indeed, the way the US Military accepted back into its ranks former Confederate Officers was almost a shock to read, but understandable given the desire for the nation to heal its wounds after the Civil War. For those individuals who appreciate learning history from participants instead of modern, revisionist historians who have never spent a day in the military, I would highly recommend this book. This book is one I'll read again.
| 
