Mark Lee Gardner’s excellent book blends history, biography, and well-detailed combat narrative as it shows how Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders became national heroes.” — Dallas Morning News
“Thrilling. ... Timeless. ... A classic, inspiring biography of a true American hero.” — True West
“Rough Riders is excellent. It’s not just first-rate history but a ripping yarn that shines new light on Theodore Roosevelt’s extraordinary life.” — Ron Hansen, author of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
“Definitive.” — True West
“A thrill ride for history buffs. ... A must read for Roosevelt aficionados and those who appreciate compelling stories of military history.” — USA Today
“Few episodes from our past have done more to capture, and shape, central themes of the American character (real and imagined) than Teddy Roosevelt’s exploits with the Rough Riders. In Mark Gardner’s expert hands, a great American foundation story has been brought to vivid life.” — Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of In the Kingdom of Ice and Blood and Thunder
“As Hollywood’s resident expert on Theodore Roosevelt, I found Mark Lee Gardner’s Rough Riders to be a finely-honed and fresh look at this country’s only ‘cowboy’ regiment to ever see combat.” — John Milius, co-screenwriter of Apocalypse Now and director of The Wind and the Lion and Rough Riders (1997 TV film), both about Roosevelt
“Fast-paced and thoroughly researched. ... A rousing and robust story.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Gardner brings the Rough Riders to life with clear, vivid prose and keen insights. You can almost smell the saddle leather and gunsmoke, hear the bugles calling to a glorious adventure second to none. Gardner leads this literary charge and it’s indeed a grand one.” — Paul Andrew Hutton, author of The Apache Wars
“Gardner delivers rousing blow-by-blow accounts of the various battles and showcases Roosevelt’s hypermasculine panache.” — Library Journal
“Gardner provides some terrifying, exhilarating stories of battle... and celebrates Roosevelt.” — Publishers Weekly
“Rich in action and telling details.” — Albuquerque Journal
“Overflowing with intelligently packaged information about Roosevelt and his regiment, massaged into an appealing action-narrative style as instructive alike to enthusiast and newcomer as it is enjoyable to read.” — Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
“[Gardner’s] fast pace and comprehensive research... carry readers into a brief and memorable period of history.” — New Mexico Magazine
“Gardner’s book is well-researched, and his narrative is absorbing.” — San Antonio Express-News
“Gardner’s account of the famous charge up San Juan Hill pulses with the kinetic confusion of men under fire. ... Gardner ably defends Roosevelt’s accomplishments on the battlefield.” — Newsday
“Breathes new life into [the Rough Riders’ tale] through detailed research, close attention to detail, and gripping narrative. ... A worthy addition to the body of work surrounding this iconic tale of American history.” — Military Heritage
“An engaging and up-to-date chronicle of the Rough Riders’ saga.” — The Journal of America's Military Past
“Absorbing. ... [Gardner’s] ability to recreate those weeks, in all their glory... is impressive.” — Bookreporter.com
“There have been countless books written about various facets of Theodore Roosevelt’s life, but it’s unlikely that any offer the masterful mix of rousing storytelling and historical accuracy in Mark Gardner’s book.” — Roundup Magazine
“Compelling reading. ... Gardner renders an especially authentic portrait.” — HistoryNet
“Gardner is one of this nation’s premier historians of the American West.” — Col. Cole C. Kingseed, USA Ret., Ph.D., Army Magazine
Rough Riders is excellent. It’s not just first-rate history but a ripping yarn that shines new light on Theodore Roosevelt’s extraordinary life.
Gardner brings the Rough Riders to life with clear, vivid prose and keen insights. You can almost smell the saddle leather and gunsmoke, hear the bugles calling to a glorious adventure second to none. Gardner leads this literary charge and it’s indeed a grand one.
Mark Lee Gardner’s excellent book blends history, biography, and well-detailed combat narrative as it shows how Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders became national heroes.
Few episodes from our past have done more to capture, and shape, central themes of the American character (real and imagined) than Teddy Roosevelt’s exploits with the Rough Riders. In Mark Gardner’s expert hands, a great American foundation story has been brought to vivid life.
As Hollywood’s resident expert on Theodore Roosevelt, I found Mark Lee Gardner’s Rough Riders to be a finely-honed and fresh look at this country’s only ‘cowboy’ regiment to ever see combat.
A thrill ride for history buffs. ... A must read for Roosevelt aficionados and those who appreciate compelling stories of military history.
Thrilling. ... Timeless. ... A classic, inspiring biography of a true American hero.
Breathes new life into [the Rough Riders’ tale] through detailed research, close attention to detail, and gripping narrative. ... A worthy addition to the body of work surrounding this iconic tale of American history.
[Gardner’s] fast pace and comprehensive research... carry readers into a brief and memorable period of history.
Gardner’s account of the famous charge up San Juan Hill pulses with the kinetic confusion of men under fire. ... Gardner ably defends Roosevelt’s accomplishments on the battlefield.
Absorbing. ... [Gardner’s] ability to recreate those weeks, in all their glory... is impressive.
Gardner’s book is well-researched, and his narrative is absorbing.
Gardner is one of this nation’s premier historians of the American West.
An engaging and up-to-date chronicle of the Rough Riders’ saga.
The Journal of America's Military Past
There have been countless books written about various facets of Theodore Roosevelt’s life, but it’s unlikely that any offer the masterful mix of rousing storytelling and historical accuracy in Mark Gardner’s book.
Overflowing with intelligently packaged information about Roosevelt and his regiment, massaged into an appealing action-narrative style as instructive alike to enthusiast and newcomer as it is enjoyable to read.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
Compelling reading. ... Gardner renders an especially authentic portrait.
Rich in action and telling details.
A thrill ride for history buffs. ... A must read for Roosevelt aficionados and those who appreciate compelling stories of military history.
[Gardner’s] fast pace and comprehensive research... carry readers into a brief and memorable period of history.
Fast-paced and thoroughly researched. ... A rousing and robust story.
02/15/2016 From Western historian Gardner (To Hell on a Fast Horse) comes this well-researched, blithely novelistic rendition of Theodore Roosevelt's leadership in the Spanish-American War (1898), just three years prior to his becoming America's 26th president. On the outbreak of war with Spain, Roosevelt, then merely a midlevel federal bureaucrat, sponsored a volunteer cavalry regiment comprising cowboys, college boys, lawyers, and assorted others, whose spirited charge up Cuba's San Juan Hill is a staple of U.S. history textbooks. Quoting from dispatches, newspapers, and other primary sources, Gardner delivers rousing blow-by-blow accounts of the various battles and showcases Roosevelt's hypermasculine panache, along with his scrappy troopers' eagerness for a "bully fight" in what Roosevelt's friend John Hay called a "splendid little war." Like many Roosevelt biographers, the author lionizes the Rough Riders, highlighting Teddy's single-handed rush on Spanish positions and sharing stories of this boisterous, merry band of brothers who, lacking pillows, had shoe fights in their barracks. Problematically, the only black man allowed among the Rough Riders was Roosevelt's valet, reflecting the future president's casual racism. VERDICT While this volume offers little substantive analysis, it is sure to please fans of war stories, adventure yarns, and Theodore Roosevelt. [See Prepub Alert, 11/2/15.]—Michael Rodriguez, Hodges Univ. Lib., Naples, FL
2016-02-16 One of the "iconic moments in American history" is scrutinized in heroic detail. Gardner's books previously took on such iconic figures as Jesse James (Shot All to Hell: Jesse James, the Northfield Raid, and the Wild West's Greatest Escape, 2014, etc.), Pat Garrett, and Billy the Kid. He writes that Theodore Roosevelt believed Spain was an Old World, "weak and decadent" relic, its occupation of Cuba outrageous. Roosevelt was assistant secretary of the Navy when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898. Ambitious, intense, and energetic, he had been aching to be in a war—"nothing was going to keep him from the battlefield." He resigned his position and a month later was off to Texas to join the First United States Volunteer Calvary as second in command, a 38-year-old lieutenant colonel. The Rough Riders, as newspapers called them, were a "ragtag regiment of Southwestern cowpunchers, Oklahoma Indians, Ivy League football stars, and champion polo players." Roosevelt loved it: "I put myself in the way of things happening, and they happened." They arrived by boat at Santiago in June. After experiencing some action, the penultimate event took place on July 1. Roosevelt, astride his horse, Little Texas, led his men up the hill yelling "Forward, March!" bullets from the Spanish soldiers' rifles whistling by. One soldier wrote home: "I really believe firmly now, that they cannot kill him." They took the hill but suffered casualties. The "splendid little war" lasted 10 weeks, and Roosevelt was elected governor of New York a year later. Numerous quotes from letters, journals, and memoirs bring this adventurous story to life. There are many books about this event, including Roosevelt's own. Gardner's short-paragraphed, fast-paced, and thoroughly researched addition will appeal to teens as well. A rousing and robust story about the immortal charge and the significant role played in the war by Theodore Roosevelt, the only American president to be awarded the Medal of Honor.