The King and the Cowboy: Theodore Roosevelt and Edward the Seventh, Secret Partners

by David Fromkin

Overview

An intimate look at two extraordinary figures and their secret collaboration-one that turned the alliance structure of the political world upside down

In this character-driven study, acclaimed historian and bestselling author David Fromkin reveals how two colorful figures? Theodore Roosevelt and Edward the Seventh? assumed leadership of the English-speaking world at the beginning of the twentieth century. As human beings, the two men could hardly have been more different. Edward, a lover of fine food, drink, beautiful women, and the pleasure-seeking culture of Paris, had previously been regarded as nothing more than a playboy. Across the Atlantic, Theodore Roosevelt, the aristocrat from Manhattan and self-made cowboy, would rise above his critics to become one of the nation's most beloved presidents. Together, they wrote the agenda for the North Atlantic democracies of the twentieth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780143116189
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/24/2009
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

David Fromkin is a university professor and professor of history at Boston University. He is the author of In the Time of the Americans, a History Book Club selection, and the national bestseller A Peace to End All Peace, which was a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize and was singled out by the New York Times Book Review as one of the 13 “Best Books of the Year” in 1989. He lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

In this problematic book, Boston University professor Fromkin (A Peace to End All Peace) asserts a personal strategic relationship between president Theodore Roosevelt and King Edward VII during the Algeciras Conference of 1906. The gathering was to mediate the future of Morocco; France, backed by other European powers, argued for protectorate status, while Germany, wanting to end French dominance in Morocco, argued for independence. The bulk of the book recounts the lives of Edward VII, his tempestuous nephew Kaiser Wilhelm II, and of TR prior to Algeciras. In emphasizing a collaboration between Roosevelt and Edward, neither of whom attended the conference, Fromkin seems to discount the roles of lead mediator Henry White, and his capable assistant Samuel R. Gunnmere, in orchestrating the results, which were largely unfavorable to Germany. Fromkin likewise discounts the machinations of the British Foreign Office, which outweighed any influence the monarch might have had. Only one direct communiqué-secret or otherwise-between TR and Edward, dispatched after the conference, is cited, making Fromkin's assertion of a close "secret partnership" a reach. Overall, Fromkin's volume is without a raison d'être. Illus. (Sept. 5)

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Publishers Weekly

Fromkin (international relations, history & law, Boston Univ.; Europe's Last Summer: Who Started the Great War in 1914?) is exceptionally well qualified to tell the story of Theodore Roosevelt and King Edward VII, who both came into positions of power in 1901, albeit with a difference. As Americans tend to confuse their presidents and get absolutely lost among British monarchs, Fromkin first provides readers with the essential Victorian background. In large part because of Victoria's dominance as the longest-serving British monarch, her oldest son, the future Edward VII, became an aging playboy. Yet he was a playboy with a serious side, more open to the world than his mother, ultimately emerging as a "people's king." Fromkin argues that both Roosevelt and Edward were in part "self-invented" characters who ultimately came to share world views. The bad guy in this narrative is the future Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Edward's nephew. Born with a withered arm, he has long been described as trying to make up for that with other expressions of power. Fromkin brings to light the Morocco Crisis of 1905-06 to show, ironically, that it was a prudish president and a playboy king who joined forces then and effectively established an alliance against Germany. A joy to read, this book will appeal to Roosevelt and royalist readers alike. Highly recommended for general and academic libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ5/15/08.]
—William D. Pederson

Library Journal

Professor Fromkin uses four biographies to tell his story: that of Edward VII of England; Edward's mother, Queen Victoria; his nephew, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany; and Theodore Roosevelt. He ties the principals together by weighing their influence in a 1906 conference at Algeciras, Spain, convened to determine the fate of Morocco. The events of this period presaged WW I. Narrator Paul Boehmer shows his linguistic skill with the occasional French and German he must perform. He chooses a relaxed tempo that allows listeners to assimilate the abundant historical detail, and he uses a conversational style to add some spark to an otherwise dull rhetoric. Unfortunately, Boehmer misses many opportunities to use an appropriate foreign accent to distinguish the abundant quotes by non-native English speakers. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2008 - AudioFile