It is almost impossible to write a book in which Theodore Roosevelt plays a supporting role. If he’s in it, he’s the star ... The Crowded Hour is a rare exception to this rule. In Clay Risen’s fast-paced, carefully researched new history of Roosevelt’s regiment of Rough Riders, which dazzled Americans during the Spanish-American War, the future president may be in the thick of the action, but he does not monopolize the story, quietly stepping aside for long stretches of time. In his place appears an irresistible cast of characters...It quickly becomes clear, however, that the book’s central character is neither Roosevelt nor any of these men. It is the brash young country they dared the world to dismiss ... Risen...is a gifted storyteller who brings context to the chaos of war. The Crowded Hour feels like the best type of war reporting — told with a clarity that takes nothing away from the horrors of the battlefield.
Risen is a good storyteller, and his fast-paced narrative on the Rough Riders’ travails in Cuba—no other regiment in the Spanish-American War suffered as many casualties—makes The Crowded Hour, Roosevelt’s term for his regiment’s bloody struggles across the island, a gripping tale ... Roosevelt is the protagonist of this tale, but one of the most compelling features of The Crowded Hour is the attention paid to the mélange of characters who followed him in battle. Risen depicts the Rough Riders as representatives of modern America ... This 'blinkered view of American power . . . forged in [Roosevelt’s] experience with the Rough Riders' is powerfully relevant at a time when the country is torn apart by competing visions of globalism and 'America First.'
...a swashbuckling tale ... Although Risen doesn’t entirely ignore Cuban and Spanish voices, here he unapologetically spins what he calls a 'quintessentially American story.' Cuba and Cubans, Spain and the Spanish recede almost entirely from view; when we see them, it is through American eyes. We still seem to be in the American Century: the world is the stage, but the star of the show is the United States. Still, The Crowded Hour is a good yarn. Risen’s special talent is the character sketch, and between Roosevelt and the Rough Riders he has a lot to work with ... The Crowded Hour reminds us that great leaders need ideas, perhaps even a coherent philosophy, to take the nation in a new direction.
The Crowded Hour attacks many misconceptions ... Risen does not give Roosevelt a pass on race, an interesting aspect with the modern trend of attacking ghosts of heroes past on that issue ... The Crowded Hour, with a rousing narrative, does Roosevelt justice, but it serves even better in explaining the 1898 war.
Clay Risen makes a strong case for the proposition that the Spanish-American War of 1898 was American foreign policy’s tipping point for what followed in the 20th and early 21st centuries ... The original motives behind the policy of pushing our values abroad, embraced by most American presidents since McKinley, were not totally clear. Did it become our guiding principle because of purely humanitarian reasons? ... Risen makes a tight argument that the conversation started with the Spanish-American War ... Risen does a particularly good job of detailing Roosevelt’s exceptional leadership of his men during their four months together ... For those who enjoy stories of bona-fide patriotism, valor, and sacrifice, The Crowded Hour fills the bill.
... combines the best elements of biography and history to present a significant account of the Spanish-American War, as well as an entertaining profile of the war’s most celebrated hero, Teddy Roosevelt ... As a historical account, it is a reminder of how far our nation has come as a world power, but how we struggle today with the obligations that come with that power.
InThe Crowded Hour, Risen gives more than just a rousing retelling of the well-known story of Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. He shows how the famous regiment and their more famous leader helped remake America.
A lively exploration of how 'intervene first, ask questions later' became America’s foreign policy beginning with the Spanish-American War .... a penetrating history ...
...eminently readable ... Mr. Risen...is on shakier ground when he argues that the Rough Riders created the template for America’s dedication in the 20th century to forging out into the world in search of monsters to destroy. He is right to point out that journalists’ reports of the 1898 campaign to take Santiago do indeed echo those of America’s early forays into South Vietnam in the 1960s and the invasion of Iraq in the early 2000s. Yet baked into this nation from its inception has been the optimistic idea that America would not only wrest greatness out of its own land but also lead the world by its shining example ... But the Rough Riders did help crystallize the American warrior spirit—a brand of cheerful idealism and meritocratic patriotism—at a time when the U.S. was awakening to look hard beyond its borders. San Juan Hill gave Americans a thrill, the same way Daniel Boone did.
