Never Call Retreat ─ Theodore Roosevelt and the Great War

A failed state in Mexico, bleeding across the border; an insurgency against Old Guard Republicans; an eloquent and charismatic Democratic President facing a global war of terror while bedeviled by constant and vitriolic partisan attacks. The year is not 2014 but 1914, and the adversaries are Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt, who carried on a personal and political battle for four years during the First World War, up until the day TR died. This duel of American titans is at the center of Never Call Retreat, the first modern account of what has too often been considered a dark and aberrant period in Roosevelt's life. This is a tale of war and politics, but it is also a private story of true love and family devotion: the love of Theodore and Edith Roosevelt and the deep bonds of familial affection they held for all their children, particularly sons Ted, Kermit, Archie and Quentin, who all served bravely on the front. From public triumphs to personal tragedies, this stirring narrative gives us a long overdue look at the final years of one of American history's most indelible figures, as well as the way in which the US was drawn into the greatest conflict the world had yet seen.

J. Lee Thompson is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Professor of History at Lamar University, USA. His previous books include Theodore Roosevelt Abroad and A Wider Patriotism: Alfred Milner and the British Empire. His work has been featured on C-SPAN and other venues, and he is a former visiting Fellow at Cambridge University.