War Lover - Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the rush to Empire, 1898 - Evan Thomas [0606 - May 12, 2015]Evan Thomas makes a convincing case that the overt and covert efforts of Roosevelt, Lodge, and Hearst brought on the Spanish-American War. The overriding goal was to compel America to become a world power and acquire foreign territories.Although newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst (1863-1961) and senator Henry Cabot Lodge (1850-1924) play important roles in the story Mr. Thomas is telling; it is Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) who is the principal character in this book.This reader was familiar with Roosevelt's war activities in Cuba but the Hearst and Lodge aspects of the story were new to me.This book is a compelling read and sheds light on a little known but critically important aspect of our history, which has ramifications to this day.I have had the pleasure of listening on audio book to the 3-volume biography of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris. This led to a book on the building of the Panama Canal, and several other TR related books including this title I am commenting on. Perhaps reading this book will inspire you to follow up with another book on this general topic.
