In this collection of his best works, including speeches, essays, and commentaries, Theodore Roosevelt's complex personality and captivating writing style emerge as readers travel through his incredible life from his days as a Rough Rider in Cuba, through his political career and rise to the presidency, to his life after the White House as hunter, explorer, and naturalist. Roosevelt was a conservationist and an avid hunter, a racist and an egalitarian, a militarist and a Nobel prizewinner for peace, a conservative and a leader for progressive reform - his convictions, prejudices, and paradoxes were the embodiment of an American mind. This excellent selection of his writings, along with a concise biography, offers a true understanding of that mind - and of the ideals, values, and beliefs that animated his thinking and still influence American thought today.