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The father is the first Theodore Roosevelt, a figure of unbounded energy, enormously attractive and selfless, a god in the eyes of his small, frail namesake. The mother, Mittie Bulloch Roosevelt, is a Southerner and a celebrated beauty, but also considerably more, which the book makes clear as never before. There are sisters Anna and Corinne, brother Elliott (who becomes the father of Eleanor Roosevelt), and the lovely, tragic Alice Lee, TR's first love. All are brought to life to make "a beautifully told story, filled with fresh detail", wrote The New York Times Book Review.

A book to be read on many levels, it is at once an enthralling story, a brilliant social history and a work of important scholarship which does away with several old myths and breaks entirely new ground. It is a book about life intensely lived, about family love and loyalty, about grief and courage, about "blessed" mornings on horseback beneath the wide blue skies of the Badlands.

Average Customer Rating:

The making of a hero

Customer Rating:

This was the first David McCullough book I ever read, a gift from a favorite aunt who knew and was fond of some descendents of TR's mother's family, the Bullochs. Though I was not yet a fan of non-fiction, this book changed my tastes. It's as readable as good fiction, with the added satisfaction of being a true story. David McCullough has a real gift for getting inside the lives of his subjects and making them human, and though he certainly chose a complex and interesting character in TR, this book is also largely about American social history and Roosevelt family history. The physical challenges TR overcame and the personal losses he survived would have destroyed a lesser man, but by sheer strength of character he managed to transform himself into, well, TR. By his low-key recounting of the struggles and successes of this exceptional man, Mr. McCullough demonstrates the power of will and conveys the sheer exuberance of the man in this almost incredible story that just happens to be true. Surely TR serves as a shining example of what it truly means to triumph over adversity, and what persistence and courage really mean. No whining here, and bully for him. This book got me hooked on biographies, and Mr. McCullough's in particular. This is a good one to start with--it doesn't seem as scholarly as say, "John Adams" (not that that's a bad thing), and perhaps because TR's generation is closer to our own, it's very accessible and reader friendly. I particularly enjoyed the account of TR's childhood--the warmth of Mittie, his mother, and the details of their everyday lives--plush-lined, perhaps--but containing the kind of pain any contemporary reader can relate to. For a wonderfully readable biography about a truly worthy subject of this master storyteller, look no further than "Mornings on Horseback." It would be a great introduction to history or biography for a young adult reader, as well as for jaded fiction readers looking for something with a little more meat.

Teddy Roosevelt	Customer Rating:
This book given to my brother, a history buff, who did not like it. He raved about 1776 by the same author.

MORNINGS ON HORSEBACK	Customer Rating:
I NEVER RECIEVED THIS BOOK. It was returned to sender as undeliverable. The reason is the address was to my winter residence for which I have a mail transfer through the post office with mail going to my summer address and the post office would not transfer anything except fist class mail and I didn't know that when I placed the order. I will have to order it again after October first.

For Me. "A little long".	Customer Rating:
Overall, not bad with some entertainment and it got better in the second half. Won't read it again though..

Good Read	Customer Rating:
I thought I knew much about Theodore Roosevelt before I read this book, but learned even more about him and find that he is an inspiration, the way he got over all the troubles that he had as a young child. A very good book. Entertaining and informative.