New Rough Rider book out

[Captain Lee Bishop]

I just got my copy of this book yesterday, had forgotten I’d had it back ordered: http://www.amazon.com/Roosevelts-Riders-Warrior-Alejandro-Quesada/dp/1846033837/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246033237&sr=1-3 I haven’t sat down to read it yet, but so far it looks decent. The paintings weren’t what I was hoping for. With only one exception, they just painted some period photos and they lack details. The photos are decent but generally, you’re not getting much more info than you’d find in Stewart’s book, “Cowboys in Uniform.” Maybe the text will be a little more enlightening. There were some scathing remarks about the 1997 Turner movie and yet they include several photos from the making of the History Channel documentary, “The Spanish-American War: First Intervention,” which also has some authenticity issues of its own (but which had the author in it, in yet another case of writer self-serving).

[Charles Isaac]

Thanks for the review on the book Captain.

I tried to watch the Rough Riders when it first came out but it couldn't have been very good because I fell asleep. I do remember seeing the muzzle of a Krag "carbine" that was turned down to accept a bayonet. Minor blooper there but what really killed it was TR carrying his engraved  Colts M1873 . Blasphemy, especially when the story behind the Colts DA revolver he really carried in the war is known.

[Drydock]

As history it was sketchy, but what movie isn't.  Its frankly amazing to me how much Milius got right.  Krags, potato diggers, the correct Gatilings in .30 US, a Hotchkiss revolving cannon.  Black Jack Pershing and the 10th. Tiffany and Parker.  Leonard Wood and the New York Society Swells. William Randolph "I'll provide the War" Hearst. And Bryan Kieths Mckinley, though almost an exact opposite of the real patrician McKinley, was a hoot to watch.

It was entertaining, and it made folks think about the forgotten war that set the stage for the 20th century.  And much like "Tombstone" served to interest folks in SASS,  "Rough Riders" was in many ways one of the things that got like minded folks talking about, and forming, the GAF.

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[Charles Isaac]

I do understand the importance of movies, especially when they cause people to study our heritage. If "Rough Riders" helped in the forming of the GAF, that's good enough for me.

I had decided to go ahead and watch the movie and went ahead and bought it for $4 shipped last week  but I'm still waiting for it to get here.