The Crowded Hour
Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the Dawn of the American Century
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A NEW YORK TIMES 100 NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2019 SELECTION
The dramatic story of the most famous regiment in American history: the Rough Riders, a motley group of soldiers led by Theodore Roosevelt, whose daring exploits marked the beginning of American imperialism in the 20th century.
When America declared war on Spain in 1898, the US Army had just 26,000 men, spread around the country—hardly an army at all. In desperation, the Rough Riders were born. A unique group of volunteers, ranging from Ivy League athletes to Arizona cowboys and led by Theodore Roosevelt, they helped secure victory in Cuba in a series of gripping, bloody fights across the island. Roosevelt called their charge in the Battle of San Juan Hill his “crowded hour”—a turning point in his life, one that led directly to the White House. “The instant I received the order,” wrote Roosevelt, “I sprang on my horse and then my ‘crowded hour’ began.” As The Crowded Hour reveals, it was a turning point for America as well, uniting the country and ushering in a new era of global power.
Both a portrait of these men, few of whom were traditional soldiers, and of the Spanish-American War itself, The Crowded Hour dives deep into the daily lives and struggles of Roosevelt and his regiment. Using diaries, letters, and memoirs, Risen illuminates a disproportionately influential moment in American history: a war of only six months’ time that dramatically altered the United States’ standing in the world. In this brilliant, enlightening narrative, the Rough Riders—and a country on the brink of a new global dominance—are brought fully and gloriously to life.
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In this well-constructed account of future president Theodore Roosevelt and his "Rough Riders," officially known as the First United States Volunteer Cavalry, journalist Risen argues that the "American Century" began not in 1900, but two years earlier. Between April and July 1898, the United States government annexed the Hawaiian archipelago, while its army and navy defeated those of Spain and seized Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Roosevelt's role in the invasion of Cuba, and especially his unit's famous charge up San Juan Hill, made him a national hero, leading him first into the governor's mansion of New York State and not long afterward into the White House. Risen also focuses on the Rough Riders, volunteers who "set aside families, careers, wealth, and celebrity to fight and die for something other than themselves." Many came from the region their fellow Americans romanticized as the "Wild West"; as the frontier era drew to an end, the national press endlessly hyped the "cowboys" who seemed destined to prove the New World's superiority over the old. Risen's lively and extensively researched social history illuminates a transformative moment in America's past.
