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
"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, and 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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