The Rough Riders

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The Rough Riders

Author: Theodore Roosevelt
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Copyright: 1999
Pages: 262
Cover Price: $ 15.00

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In 1898, as the Spanish-American War was escalating, Theodore Roosevelt assembled an improbable regiment of Ivy Leaguers, cowboys, Native Americans, African-Americans, and Western Territory land speculators. This group of men, which became known as the Rough Riders, trained for four weeks in the Texas desert and then set sail for Cuba. Over the course of the summer, Roosevelt's Rough Riders fought valiantly, and sometimes recklessly, in the Cuban foothills, incurring casualties at a far greater rate than the Spanish.

Roosevelt kept a detailed diary from the time he left Washington until his triumphant return from Cuba later that year. The Rough Riders was published to instant acclaim in 1899. Robust in its style and mesmerizing in its account of battle, it is exhilarating, illuminating, and utterly essential reading for every armchair historian and at-home general.

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Background Information

Theodore Roosevelt was a progressive political leader, conservationist, war hero and adventurer. Teddy Roosevelt left civilian life to organize the Rough Riders and led them in the charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. The major ground campaigns of the Spanish-American War were in Cuba, where the army of Spain was completely overmatched by the US Army.