Read on the flights to and from NF22 FPC. My mom gave me this book from the old CCHS collection. I was interested to read based on the author and the topic; unfortunately, he came across as very biased against Teddy Roosevelt and was extremely repetitive in his critiques of the president. Not an enjoyable read at all because it highlights some terrific dark spots of American history that are important to remember and are humbling for anyone who thinks the US is the perfect country. I do not completely agree with the author's thesis that white Christians continue to follow the sun west, causing the hate and discontent in the Japanese that eventually led to WWII. It is a quick, easy read, but I do not highly recommend this book to anyone, other than those who think very highly of Teddy Roosevelt and want to challenge their opinions.

Wow. The book presents a totally different (and very negative) view of TR and Taft. Can this be true? Did Roosevelt's racism and reckless, beligerent and illegal foreign policy lead to WWII? Was his public persona a complete sham? Clearly TR was far from perfect, but this book seems extreme overreach to me.
( )

A towering work of revisionist history, it earns a second star only because it sent me to do so much follow-on reading on any number of topics touched. Highly recommended if one enjoys books written as exploration of alternate historical timelines. ( )

Was supposed to read for a book report over winter break.
Book was pretty horrendous so the boys and I split it up by chapter and then combined all our notes and wrote our own summaries, etc.
Teach found out about this and we all failed the project
10/10 would do again to not read this book. ( )

Bradley's research offers quite a contradictory view of Teddy Roosevelt and how his policies may have laid the groundwork for Japanese expansion leading up to World War II. It's certainly not the standard text you learned from your elementary school texts. Bradley's perspective on T.R. is consistent with some other historians who agrue that his "rough rider" reputation was due to his self promotion, and not earned by his actions. Probably offensive to some, in that it offers a less than exemplary viewpoint of U.S. policies, but it's certainly an interesting and thought provoking book. ( )