The Crowded Hour

April 15, 2019
A lively exploration of how "intervene first, ask questions later" became America's foreign policy beginning with the Spanish-American War. In 1898, Cuba's fight for independence from Spain captured the American imagination, inflamed by sensational newspaper reports and dispatches by well-regarded journalists. Many believed that Cuban rebels were starving, perishing on America's doorstep, and it was the responsibility of the U.S. to intervene "in the name of humanity." Although President William McKinley and his administration were reluctant to interfere, others pressed for war, the noisiest among them Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt's views prevailed, and his name and fortune became forever linked to a volunteer regiment known as the Rough Riders, whose exploits fed into America's self-image of courage and invincibility. Drawing on letters, archival sources, and abundant newspaper articles--many from on-site journalists including Richard Harding Davis, Stephen Crane, and Frank Norris--Risen (Single Malt: A Guide to the Whiskies of Scotland, 2018, etc.), deputy op-ed editor at the New York Times, offers a penetrating history of the "half-baked, poorly executed, unnecessary conflict" from which the U.S., nevertheless, emerged victorious. Due to the nation's limited army and ill-prepared state militias, the war relied on volunteers; many eagerly joined Roosevelt's "cowboys," which took its nickname from one of Buffalo Bill Cody's touring troupes. The Rough Riders were shocked by the reality of Army life: Malodorous cattle ships, refitted to transport troops, teemed with insects; on the island, they lacked food, water, cooking utensils, supplies, medicine--and decisive leadership; malaria, typhoid, and yellow fever raged. Moreover, Cubans were resentful, seeking guns, money, and ammunition--not America's "rescue." Although the intervention lasted less than six months, America battled on for another four years, in the end controlling Puerto Rico and part of the Philippines. The war, Risen argues convincingly, shaped the nation's sense of unity, purpose, and role as an exporter of American values, establishing "the wheels of myth-making, idealism, and national self-interest that would guide the country during the twentieth century." A revelatory history of America's grasp for power.

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April 29, 2019
In this well-constructed account of future president Theodore Roosevelt and his “Rough Riders,” officially known as the First United States Volunteer Cavalry, journalist Risen argues that the “American Century” began not in 1900, but two years earlier. Between April and July 1898, the United States government annexed the Hawaiian archipelago, while its army and navy defeated those of Spain and seized Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Roosevelt’s role in the invasion of Cuba, and especially his unit’s famous charge up San Juan Hill, made him a national hero, leading him first into the governor’s mansion of New York State and not long afterward into the White House. Risen also focuses on the Rough Riders, volunteers who “set aside families, careers, wealth, and celebrity to fight and die for something other than themselves.” Many came from the region their fellow Americans romanticized as the “Wild West”; as the frontier era drew to an end, the national press endlessly hyped the “cowboys” who seemed destined to prove the New World’s superiority over the old. Risen’s lively and extensively researched social history illuminates a transformative moment in America’s past. Agent: Heather Schroder, Compass Talent.

June 1, 2019

Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders--hundreds of cowboys, toughs, sportsmen, and posh gents--campaigned in the Spanish-American War of 1898. Idealistic, casually racist, and over-the-top macho, these mostly white men shaped America's idealistic, militaristic vision of itself in the 20th century. They paved the way for a century of U.S. interventions in the guise of toppling tyranny. The Rough Riders also make for a cracking good yarn. From all walks of life and across the nation, they volunteered to fight to liberate Cuba from Spanish colonial rule--or simply to enjoy a good scrap in a righteous cause. Mustered in as the first U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, the Rough Riders survived hunger, malaria, and bureaucratic ineptitude. They defeated the Spanish at the Battle of San Juan Hill, in a charge immortalized by American painter Frederic Remington. Their charismatic commander, Theodore Roosevelt, later became U.S. president. Modeling what Risen (deputy op-ed editor, New York Times) terms guts and gumption--plus distinctly toxic masculinity--the Rough Riders ushered in what publisher Henry Luce proclaimed the American Century. VERDICT A sympathetic, journalistic account of an unruly band of brothers whose 45 days of fighting in Cuba changed the world.--Michael Rodriguez, Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs

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