The War Lovers

February 8, 2010
America acquired an empire in a fit of neurosis, according to this shrewd, caustic psychological interpretation of the Spanish-American War by well-known. Newsweek
editor and bestselling author Thomas (Sea of Thunder
). The book focuses on three leading war-mongers—Teddy Roosevelt, his crony, Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge, and newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, whose fanciful New York Journal
coverage of the Cuban insurrection and the sinking of the USS Maine
fanned war hysteria. Ashamed of their fathers’ failure to fight in the Civil War, according to Thomas, these righteous sons trumped up a pointless conflict with Spain as a test of manhood, conflating the personal with the national. To Thomas they represent an American ruling elite imbued with notions of Anglo-Saxon supremacy over alien races and lower orders, but anxious about its own monied softness. As foils, Thomas offers Thomas Brackett Reed, the antiwar speaker of the House, and philosopher William James, who advanced an ethic of moral courage against the Rooseveltian cult of physical aggression.Thomas’s thesis is bold and will undoubtedly be controversial, but his protagonists make for rich psychological portraiture, and the book serves as an illuminating case study in the sociocultural underpinnings of American military adventurism. 45 b&w photos, 2 maps.

Starred review from March 1, 2010
Rather than provide a strict history of the Spanish-American War of 1898, Thomas (asst. managing editor, "Newsweek; Sea of Thunder") focuses on a half-dozen major players, including two who opposed it. Thomas has done yeoman research on America's first war after the Civil War (with the underlying influence of that war on the men in this story a leitmotif). The personal and political relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge takes up much space. A third character is media mogul William Randolph Hearst, who stirred popular war support through his yellow journalism. The main foil to these three imperialists was the powerful speaker of the house, Thomas Reed, who was eventually doomed by the frenzy that Hearst and others had whipped up. William James, the philosopher, and William McKinley were the proverbial men caught in the middleJames ambivalent about action heroes and war and McKinley a typical politician who caved to public opinion. VERDICT While most Spanish-American War histories focus on the military angle, this engaging book humanizes the conflict by also providing useful insights regarding the political and academic leaders of the time, allowing the war to resonate with later American adventures abroad and with the dilemma of reconciling American ideals with a new global world. Highly recommended.William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2010
A dynamic examination of America's rush into the Spanish-American War.

On Feb. 15, 1898, a mysterious explosion destroyed the U.S.S. Maine off the coast of Cuba, killing more than 250 American crewmen. Though the cause is still unknown, many in the United States, including some powerful political figures, wanted a war—even one waged on false pretenses. Longtime Newsweek editor Thomas (Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941–1945, 2006, etc.) focuses on three men who were especially eager: Theodore Roosevelt, then assistant secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley; Henry Cabot Lodge, the Republican U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, and Roosevelt's close friend; and William Randolph Hearst, the wealthy publisher. The author ably sketches the personalities of all three men and the hawkish beliefs that they, and a large part of the American public, shared. They saw the United States as the world's protector, a nation that had a moral right to intervene in other countries' affairs, or even seize other countries' territory. Thomas also profiles two major dissenters: the powerful, dovish Speaker of the House Thomas Reed, who lost his best friend in the Civil War, and philosopher William James, who viewed the country's policy of foreign conquest as a betrayal of the American value of self-determination. The author goes beyond politics as well, delving into the psychology of his principals. Roosevelt's preoccupation with violence and physical toughness were certainly related to his warlike policies; Lodge's reserved manner disguised a fierce determination; Hearst's hawkishness seemed inextricably linked to his desire to boost circulation numbers. Thomas wisely keeps these engaging figures front and center, and his multifaceted portraits lend the book a sweeping, almost cinematic quality.

A lively, well-rounded look at politics and personalities in late-19th-century America.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

March 15, 2010
Through the Spanish-American War of 1898, Thomas newest history shows the pro-war stances of three historical figures (Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, and publisher William Randolph Hearst) and the anti-war attitudes of two others (Speaker of the House Thomas Reed and philosopher William James). Attaining adulthood following the Civil War, each one developed some conception of war through Americas living memories of that conflict, which Thomas refracts through the mans familial or social milieus. Whether or not TRs rage militaire was psychological compensation for a father who avoided combat in the Civil War, it certainly resonated with a public entertained by Hearsts yellow-press sensationalism. Embroidering the tenor of the times with prevalent attitudes of Anglo-Saxon ascendancy, Thomas has James comment, appalled, on the war fever of 1898 as his narrative ascends its crest of the Rough Riders uphill charge in Cuba. Survivors such as TR, however, were exhilarated by the battles test of their bravery and their nations vitality, all emblematic of a historical zeitgeist that Thomas well captures with his customary fluidity.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)