The Last Charge of the Rough Rider

Theodore Roosevelt's Final Days

By: William Elliott Hazelgrove

Narrated by: Danny Campbell

Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

There have been many books on Theodore Roosevelt, but there are none that solely focus on the last years of his life. Racked by rheumatism, a ticking embolism, pathogens in his blood, a bad leg, and a bullet in his chest from an assassination attempt, in the last two years of his life, he went from the great disappointment of being denied his own regiment in World War I, leading a suicide mission of Rough Riders against the Germans, to the devastating news that his son Quentin had been shot down and killed over France. Suffering from grief and guilt, marginalized by world events, the great glow that had been his life was now but a dimming lantern. But TR's final years were productive ones as well: he churned out several "instant" books that promoted United States entry into the Great War, and he was making plans for another run at the Presidency in 1920 at the time of his death. Indeed, his political influence was so great that his opposition to the policies of Woodrow Wilson helped the Republican Party take back the Congress in 1918. However, as William Hazelgrove points out in this book, it was Roosevelt's quest for the "vigorous life" that, ironically, may have led to his early demise at the age of sixty. "The Old Lion is dead," TR's son Archie cabled his brother on January 6, 1919, and so, too, ended a historic era in American life and politics.

©2023 William Elliott Hazelgrove (P)2023 Tantor

Good story…odd narration

I love a good book about Teddy Roosevelt. And I am constantly hungry for more stories about his fascinating life. So, when this book came out, I was very excited. However, within the first 30 seconds of listening to the narrator, I could not help but wonder why someone had chosen a narrator that sounded elderly, winded and hoarse (and please understand that I mean no insult to this particular narrator). And though I have to admit that at about the halfway point I managed to get used to his narration, I still don’t quite think that it was the right narrator for this book.

Regardless, I thought that the book was written in a manner that, through the use of time, shifting, almost made, the story seem like a screenplay/teleplay for a television documentary. It was enjoyable, yet it almost seemed overly simplistic. But, I do have to admit, I did enjoy listening to this book. But I’m not entirely sure if I enjoyed it because I am so enthralled with Theodore Roosevelt’s life story or if I actually enjoyed the vehicle that delivered that story. One way or the other, if you are a fan of “The Old Bull Moose”, I would recommend that you listen to this book. If nothing else at all, it keeps the good colonel’s story alive in a time where we could use the example of such a hero to help lead us through the morass that is our current society.