While I enjoyed a lot of the book, I had a hard time sticking with it. The format seemed to slow down the story and I was tempted to stop reading the book a few times. Since I had received it as an ARC, I decided to stick it out so I could review. ( )

Theodore Roosevelt didn’t want to die a quiet death. He fervently sought a hero’s death on the battlefield. Disgusted by President Woodrow Wilson’s lack of martial enthusiasm for joining the war raging in Europe, TR not only criticized his political rival, but relentlessly sought permission to resurrect the Rough Riders, believing they would soon win WWI.

So what if the men he had recruited twenty years ago were old and untrained. So what if TR’s body was struggling with a multitude of health issues incurred over an active and risk-taking life. So what if war no longer was fought with horse and saber, but tanks and gatling guns and U-boat torpedoes and poison gas.

The Last Charge of the Rough Rider covers TR’s last two years, with flashbacks to his earlier life. TR encouraged his sons to enlist, only to be brokenhearted with Quentin’s heroic, but tragic, death. The book also gives insight into President Wilson’s own tumultuous life while in office: Wilson lost his first wife, became despondent, fell in love and married a younger women, and suffered his own health crisis, all while seeking to keep America out of war and trying to broker peace in Europe.

The book is written in a lively, narrative style, never dry. It was interested to read quotes from TR’s letters. A vivid portrait of the aging lion emerges.

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbaised. ( )