TR’s Last War:
Theodore Roosevelt, The Great War,
and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy
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From Lyons Press, an imprint of Globe Pequot
Publication Date: September 1, 2018
Request a Review Copy
Publicity Contact: Jessica Kastner 203-458-4543
or from:
Netgalley.com
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An amazingly fresh approach to a much covered subject….
A riveting new account of Theodore Roosevelt’s impassioned crusade for military
preparedness as America fitfully stumbles into World War I, spectacularly punctuated
by his unique tongue-lashings of the vacillating Woodrow Wilson, his rousing
advocacy of a masculine, pro-Allied “Americanism,” a death-defying compulsion for
personal front-line combat, a perilously rapprochement with GOP power brokers—
and, yes, perhaps, even another presidential campaign. Roosevelt is a towering
Greek god of war. But Greek gods begat Greek tragedies. His own entreaties to don
the uniform are rebuffed, and he remains stateside. But his four sons fight “over
there” with heartbreaking consequences: two are wounded; his youngest and most
loved child dies in aerial combat. Yet, though grieving and weary, TR may yet
surmount everything with one monumentally odds-defying last triumph. Poised at the
very brink of a final return to the White House, death stills his indomitable spirit.
TR’s Last War unveils a sweeping epic not of a lion in winter but a Bull Moose
bellowing at a blazing global inferno’s very gates—and ready for one final stampede
in.
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Early praise for TR's Last War:
"absolutely terrific. All sorts of new info about Teddy Roosevelt and a time in his
life very few people know about. . . . I can't recommend this gem . . . enough. It's
absolutely wonderful. "--Frank Morano (AM970, NYC)
"Thank you, David Pietrusza! I have read literally dozens of books about TR
and have volumes of all his letters, so what a joy to uncover new views of his
majestic life in TR's Last War."--Dean Karayanis, History Author Show
podcast
"a great read"--Author Pat Williams
"David Pietrusza is a top-shelf history author. He writes in a very
engaging and enjoyable style and he never fails to tell me something I
don't already know about his subjects. . . . This book, which is due out in
September of 2018, promises to tell the story of the energetic Theodore
Roosevelt’s 'impassioned crusade for military preparedness as America
fitfully stumbles into World War I'. TR was a vocal critic of incumbent
Woodrow Wilson for his perceived weakness in the face of German
aggression. When war broke out, the aging warrior pled with his
president for the privilege of fighting 'over there,' as he had done in the
Spanish-American War. Wilson refused the Old Lion's request, but his
four sons went to war, with tragic results. This is an epic story that will
told by a masterful storyteller. I can't wait!"
--potusgeeks.com
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TR's Last War features an incredible cast of characters including:
- Theodore and Edith Roosevelt.
- The four Roosevelt brothers (Ted Jr., Archie, the moody, alcoholic
Kermit, and the doomed Quentin).
- Fiery daughter Alice Roosevelt "Princess Alice" Longworth.
- Ambitious young Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- Woodrow and Edith Wilson.
- Ex-President William Howard "Big Bill" Taft.
- Controversial media baron William Randolph Hearst.
- Germany's bombastic Kaiser Wilhelm II.
- Senators Henry Cabot Lodge.
- Warren Gamaliel Harding (and his paramour Mrs. Carrie Phillips).
- "Fighting Bob" LaFollette, William E. Borah, and Hiram Johnson.
- Secretary of State William Jennings "The Great Commoner" Bryan.
- Anti-war industrialist Henry Ford.
- Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans "The Bearded Iceberg" Hughes.
- Fledgling New Republic staffer Walter Lippmann.
- Shadowy White House advisor Colonel Edward Mandell House.
- General "Black Jack" Pershing.
- Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa.
- Sawdust circuit evangelist Billy Sunday.
- Labor leader Samuel Gompers, journalist William Allen White.
- Sculptor-politician Gutzon Borglum.
Along the way you'll also meet:
TR's sisters Anna and Corinne, Quintin's beloved socialite fiancée Flora
Payne "Foufie" Whitney, TR's erstwhile friends Elihu Root and Henry
Stimson, his pro-Preparedness ally Gen. Leonard Wood, Secretary of
War Newton D. Baker, Progressive Party moneyman George Walbridge
Perkins, Bull Moose stalwarts Gifford and Amos Pinchot and Harold
Ickes, old-line GOP bosses Billy Barnes and Boies Penrose, TR's
roughhouse aide John W. "Mac" McGrath, Wilson White House aide Joe
Tumulty, New York City Mayor John Purroy "The Boy Mayor" Mitchel,
TR's deep sea fishing partner Russell J. Coles, his black valet James
Otis, German propagandist George Sylvester Viereck, Columbia
University President Nicholas Murray "Nicholas Miraculous" Butler, the
TR-betrayed candidate Judge Samuel Seabury, Navy Secretary
Josephus Daniels, accused San Francisco bomber Tom Mooney, TR's
relentless critic Oswald Garrison Villard, newspapermen Fremont Older
and Henry Stoddard, mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart, and pro-war
filmmakers Thomas Dixon and Commodore J. Stuart Blackton.
And some surprise cameos by:
W. E. B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, Georges Clemenceau, Felix
Frankfurter, Bernard Baruch, Edith Wharton, Owen Wister, Calvin
Coolidge, Edward Arlington Robinson, Herbert Hoover, Thomas Edison,
Ida Tarbell, Edna Ferber, Heywood Broun, Carrie Chapman Catt, Capt.
Eddie Rickenbacker, Madison Grant, Jane Addams, John D. Rockefeller
Jr., Al Smith, George C. Marshall, Alfred Noyes, Hamlin Garland, H. Rider
Haggard, Lillian Russell, Will Hays, the two George S. Pattons—and the
two Eleanor Roosevelts.
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ISBN 978-1-4930-2887-0
Available for pre-order from:
Rights Available: Film/TV, Live Performance
Contact: Wilson Media
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