The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898

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The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898

3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 · rating details · 354 ratings · 88 reviews

On February 15th, 1898, the American ship USS Maine mysteriously exploded in the Havana Harbor. News of the blast quickly reached U.S. shores, where it was met by some not with alarm but great enthusiasm.

A powerful group of war lovers agitated that the United States exert its muscle across the seas. Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge were influential politicians dis...more

Hardcover, 413 pages

Published April 27th 2010 by Little, Brown and Company (first published 2010)

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The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

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Sep 28, 2012 Bj rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found this book to be a great read as well as informing (educational). I was looking for a book on the Spanish-American War period for some time and chose this one due to my great interest in Theodore Roosevelt. I have read at least 3 other historical or biographical books about our very charismatic president, we fondly call Teddy.

The War Lovers added the other people involved with the thirst for war and making America a world power but also like many other powers - abuse of the position throu...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Bruce rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: military-history, politics, us-history, world-history

This book provides interesting background into the lives of the three men listed in the sub-title. A parenthetical statement early on is appropriate for that era and now, i.e. "American ignorance would be a near-constant in American small wars, then and later." There is no dispute that the three, as well as other lesser known individuals, wanted war, any war. In many cases making up stories and/or suppressing evidence. Incessant publicity to incite war created the climate for the nation to go to...more

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Nov 15, 2011 Martha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, biography, us-history, reviews

A great read. Thomas has a good narrative voice and a lively style. Vivid detail on the runup to and execution of the Spanish-American War--a period that I didn't know much about--told through the lives of TR, William Randolph Hearst, Henry Cabot Lodge (the first senator of that name), and two who opposed them, the psychologist William James and Speaker of the House Thomas Reed. The author notes that it's too bad no one remembers Reed anymore. Think of it--a Speaker with integrity.

This is the wa...more

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Jan 26, 2011 Darryl Mexic rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a non fiction book exploring the character of American jingoism in general and the titled characters, specifically, during the run up to and during the Spanish American war of 1898. Teddy Roosevelt and his best friend Henry Cabot Lodge, were Brahmins of Boston and believed strongly in social Darwinism, which was popular among the upper classes of that time. Basically, they believed that the most fit species of humanity, that being the English speaking Anglo-Saxons, were meant to lead an...more

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Sep 22, 2010 Jay rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook

The author tells a lively story about the creation of the Spanish American war and its place in history, focusing on a handful of men from varying professions involved. I found the story a bit confusing - you need to keep track of the five man and auxiliary characters, but it read like a novel. Unlike "typical" history books, the narratives of the five men bounced around to different times, in order to pull together the storyline. The author makes the case that the actions leading to the Spanish...more

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Aug 26, 2010 Fenixbird SandS marked it as to-read

Recommended to Fenixbird by: History Book Club

Shelves: based-on-events, biographies, history, warfare, wanna-buys

'...A month before Lodge’s eleventh birthday real war broke out. The great conflict that would divide the nation and in many ways shape young Lodge was initially greeted with mixed emotions by the denizens of Beacon Hill. In the 1850s the wealthy merchants of Boston sympathized with the Southern planters who sold them cotton. (When a few young radicals broke off from the Somerset Club to form the Union Club, the Somerset members made jokes about the “Sambo Club.”) But Fort Sumter and war fever s...more

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Aug 17, 2010 Matt rated it 5 of 5 stars

I borrowed this book from my dad, who told me that there was a great parallel to the Iraq War at the end of the book. I waited, waited, and waited and it did not come until the final paragraph. The book was 4 stars throughout, but the final paragraph pushes it to 5 (do yourself a favor and make sure NOT to read the paragraph before you've read the book or it will ruin the experience.)

Being a big history nerd, I really liked this book. It focuses on Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Will...more

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Jul 14, 2010 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

Politicians and the media stoking up the public to wage war on a third world country? Imagine that.

This well written book details how Teddy Roosevelt, WR Hearst, Henry Cabot Lodge & others did all they could to lead the US into what's now known as the Spanish American War.

Some longed for war to prove their - and their country's - manliness; Hearst looked to sell more newspapers; others sought to make America an imperialist country.

Against the war were the mugwumps and William James, who s...more

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May 31, 2010 Christopher rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

The consequences of wars of choice as seen through the prism of the Spanish American War, and several of its most notable personalities - Theodore Roosevelt, the elder Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, the philosopher William James, newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Thomas Brackett ("Czar") Reed.

Evan Thomas, author of a succession of best-selling political biographies, has created an exhaustively researched narrative that shows how wars often sta...more The consequences of wars of choice as seen through the prism of the Spanish American War, and several of its most notable personalities - Theodore Roosevelt, the elder Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, the philosopher William James, newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Thomas Brackett ("Czar") Reed.

Evan Thomas, author of a succession of best-selling political biographies, has created an exhaustively researched narrative that shows how wars often start specifically because powerful individuals want them to; not because of a threat to national security, but for a mix of psychological, political, and economic reasons. All of the principals possessed common social and cultural prejudices which tainted the original urgency in "liberating" the Cuban and Filipino peoples. "Manifest Destiny," or the belief that America was destined to expand its hegemony across the North American continent, eventually satisfies that need.

Thomas indicates how Theodore Roosevelt was privately shamed by his father's having purchased a "substitute" to serve for him during the Civil War, and this, as much as anything else, drove T.R. Jr. to prove his manliness in wartime. Whether he was involved in N.Y. City machine politics, or charging up San Juan Hill, T.R. was determined to succeed to settle accounts on behalf of his father. As Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Roosevelt turned the February, 1898 sinking of the U.S. Battleship "Maine" in Havana Harbor into a cause for war against Spain - though it has always been widely believed that the ship sunk because of an accidental explosion. In Cuba, Roosevelt hoped to achieve his "crowded hour" - a reference from Sir Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe": "One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name."

Roosevelt despised the so-called "mugwumps" or "Goo Goos" - the Boston "Brahmin" reformers who filled Gilded Age drawing rooms and private clubs with hot air and platitudes. The Harvard philosopher William James, though admittedly a member of this fraternity, is shown to be more enlightened and insightful than many of his colleagues. In an era where academia propounded psudo-scientific theories about racial and cultural supremacies and inferiorities, James was exceptional in his more egalitarian views. His friend and ally, Maine Representative and House Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed, a witty and skillful parliamentarian, is likewise shown to be thoughtful on the war question, though even for all his power and influence, he eventually becomes tragically consumed by the tsunami of public opinion favoring the invasion of Cuba. Reed was initially friendly with Roosevelt as well as his mentor, Massachusetts senator Henry Cabot Lodge, until the war question permanently divided them.

William Randolph Hearst, publisher of the New York "Journal," suffers probably the worst treatment of all. Here he is revealed to be a foppish, socially challenged mama's boy who used his mother's wealth to underwrite a flotilla of yachts for traveling to the war front, and employed the worst variety of yellow journalism to whip up public opinion in favor of the incursion. Sporting both navy blazer and yachting cap, he and his entourage proceed to picnic at the battle scenes - which are replete with silverware and china. The icing on the cake is that he is described as soft, with an even softer handshake and a "soprano voice." The "Journal," for its part, was the worst sort of yellow press - manipulating facts, freely pilfering stories from other publications, and printing outright falsehoods - all in the interest of boosting circulation and covering Hearst's debts, which were considerable.

Thomas writes clearly and incisively on the denouement of the war. His depiction of the Spanish fleet is positively tear-jerking in its detail - American sailors, upon boarding a defeated Spanish ship, discover that its crew, drunk on brandy, had mutinied, and the "stokers" in the boiler room had been shot for shirking. Even in surrender, the captain of one Spanish vessel had to apologize for not being able to answer the cannon-salute of his conqueror: he had run out of gun powder.

But the final lesson is one that resonates through the ages: the American empire-builders who had made the liberation of the Cuban revolutionaries their main focus, weren't even modestly interested in their welfare; in fact, the leader of the Cubans, Gen. Calixto Garcia and his army weren't even permitted to attend the formal surrender ceremony in Santiago because in the mind of one American officer, "they couldn't be trusted to behave."

Roosevelt, following the war, proceeds to seek (and win) the governorship of New York. He even campaigns in his "Rough Riders" uniform - the one he used in the war. He's ultimately victorious, and is later asked to be Vice President under William McKinley - himself a tragic figure who was initially against war, but later felt compelled to acquiesce to public pressure in undertaking it. When he falls victim to an assassin's bullet in 1901, Roosevelt succeeds him in the White House. Following Roosevelt's second term, both he and Lodge fight the establishment of the "League of Nations" proposed by President Woodrow Wilson, whom they both loathed. But Roosevelt's taste for war suffers a mortal blow when his son Quentin's plane is shot down near the end of World War I. Roosevelt even places the mangled propeller of his son's plane over the fireplace mantle at their Oyster Bay, N.Y. home - where T.R. would spend hours sitting alone, murmuring repetitively, "Quenty, Quenty." It is the very sad conclusion to what twenty years earlier had been an unbridled passion for war and empire. What it says about war folly in all its forms is the overriding theme of this excellent book and one we might seek to learn from as we honor our valiant veterans this Memorial Day.(less)

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May 06, 2010 Raymond rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh golly. You’ve got to read this book (“The War Lovers,” Evan Thomas).

Here, in a starring role, is Theodore Roosevelt cast in a light other biographers have missed or neglected, TR, a war lover who avers he would leave his wife’s deathbed to answer a call to battle. Roosevelt stars opposite Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge, an important, neglected figure in American annals and - as few have known - a close and constant friend of Roosevelt, as Roosevelt was also of Lodge. The third of the war lovers, a...more Oh golly. You’ve got to read this book (“The War Lovers,” Evan Thomas).

Here, in a starring role, is Theodore Roosevelt cast in a light other biographers have missed or neglected, TR, a war lover who avers he would leave his wife’s deathbed to answer a call to battle. Roosevelt stars opposite Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge, an important, neglected figure in American annals and - as few have known - a close and constant friend of Roosevelt, as Roosevelt was also of Lodge. The third of the war lovers, a contemporary although not a friend, is William Randolph Hearst, outfitted in bizarre costumes, building his publishing empire and conniving to stir a war with letters three-inches high. A compelling trio.

But there is more. In a significant supporting role is Thomas (Czar) Reed, commanding speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, a fascinating man for contemporary times who comes to break a friendship with Roosevelt and Lodge over the issues of unjustified war and emerging American imperialism. In another important role is William James, reflecting, reflecting on his emerging, tumultuous homeland. Prominent attention is paid Henry Adams, in residence opposite the White House and keeping close watch. There are insightful stories of Charles Russell Lowell and Josephine Shaw (Effie) Lowell.

Then there are cameo appearances, some fleeting, some extended: Robert Gould Shaw; Richard Harding Davis; Owen Wister; Frederic Remington; Clara Barton, Emilio Aguinaldo, leader of the Philippine insurgents; Alice Roosevelt, E.L. Godkin; Gen. Maximo Gomez, leader of the Cuban insurgents; Edith Roosevelt and her boys, Lizzie Cameron, Louis Armstrong, TR Jr.; Commodore George Dewey; Walter Lippmann; Queen Liliuokalani; the Oliver Wendell Holmeses, Sr., and Jr.; Gen. William Shafter; Henry Longfellow; William McKinley; Julia Ward Howe. Everyone singing, “Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight.”

Plus: Evan Thomas gives an updated, in-the-trenches recounting of the U.S. war with Spain which is as fine as anything done with that war.

A thrilling book.

Oh - what's it about? Three influential men resolved to have the United States be caught up in a war. Any war. Maybe even an invasion of Canada. Finally, war comes. (less)

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Apr 28, 2010 Eric marked it as to-read

The ennuyé masculinities of the WASP power elite seeking in war the ultimate test of their regime: whether capable of reinvigoration, or deserving of destruction. William James is the presiding shrink, Henry Adams the sarcastic chorus; both Anglo-Saxon neurotics of the Old School, Adams likening the "war lovers" to the southerners who cockily sallied forth to their enveloping doom a generation earlier. Leaders are often sick puppies addicted to the all-too-temporary erectile rush that accompanie...more

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Mar 09, 2010 jordan rated it 3 of 5 stars

While I understand an author's desire to link his or her historical study to modern events, on occasion the effort can feel either like over-reach or overwrought. Evan Thomas's "The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898" is a case on point - from the opening invocation of water boarding in the Philippines a hundred years ago, to the closing image of Scooter Libby toiling away to get his boss Dick Cheney the war he craved, we are supposed to recognize the threads that...more While I understand an author's desire to link his or her historical study to modern events, on occasion the effort can feel either like over-reach or overwrought. Evan Thomas's "The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898" is a case on point - from the opening invocation of water boarding in the Philippines a hundred years ago, to the closing image of Scooter Libby toiling away to get his boss Dick Cheney the war he craved, we are supposed to recognize the threads that bind the Spanish-American War with President Bush's Middle Eastern adventures. To be fair there exist some similarities between the two wars - both done of choice, both illuminated by a faith in American exceptionalism, both thought with out sufficient consideration of what would come after, - but these are quite besides the point and feel like mere dross on an otherwise fine piece of history.

Thomas examines the events leading up to the war in a series of comparative biographies that go beyond the three men mentioned in the title, and include the public intellectual William James, who struggles to understand and experience the emotions pulling the nation towards war, and Speaker of the House Thomas Reed, who understood the long term threat a colonial enterprise would be to American identity and culture. The contrast between the characters, despite the similarity of their background (all Harvard men, all besides Reed to the manner born), these men come to radically different understandings of what is the "right" path for America to follow.

Roosevelt, larger than life in so many ways, fills this work's narrative much as he filled every room he entered. His motivations, based in 19th century eugenics and a perfect confidence in the superiority of the "Anglo-Saxon race" and his desire for personal glory, are interesting, though over the course of the book they drag, Roosevelt simply being neither interesting nor complex enough a character to hold one's attention for 400 pages. Lodge likewise, narrowly raised and to the modern reader reactionary in his views, likewise doesn't offer any real tension. Yet, it is these two men (along with the more interesting Hearst) who receive the lions share of attention.

Reed and James are far more interesting, both men born of an old world struggling to understand what the future holds beyond dreams of vistas of endless glories and the "threat" of racial dilution. Lacking Roosevelt and Lodges sense of entitlement - whether personal or national - both come to life on the page as complex men, at times even tortured.

As for the conflict itself, there just isn't that much of interest to the Spanish American War, which lasted less than a year. Military buffs may find it worthy of study, but that would likely be in a different book. Perhaps most disappointing of all, Thomas never mines the wealth of potential for a serious contrast between that war and those in which the US is currently enmeshed. Comparisons between the way Hearst beat the drumbeat of war and the modern media doing the same after 9/11 are completely absent. Likewise lacking is a discussion is the possible reasons and ramifications of America's brief attention span and the ease with which we can disown a policy once wildly popular. What connections are offered feel like forced ornaments meant to provoke interest rather than organic parts of the text.

In the end, "The War Lovers" neither sparkles nor crashes. It is a fine, readable volume which would offer insights to someone unfamiliar with the period and perhaps a pleasant distraction to one well read in its subject. (less)

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Aug 22, 2010 Bookmarks Magazine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sept-oct-2010

Thomas exposes the reasons for and the consequences of this "war of choice" by carefully constructing his narrative around the men who masterminded it. As a result, he reinvigorates the familiar tale with little-known facts and fresh observations. In addition to describing fierce battles and behind-the-scenes political intrigues, Thomas adds dramatic tension by recounting the acrimony and violence that erupted between such men as Roosevelt, Lodge, and Hearst, and, on the other side, Reed and Jam...more

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Jun 04, 2010 Patrick Sprunger rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: History Channel audiences

Shelves: american-history, read-in-2010

The War Lovers is not written for history students or professionals. This alone isn't a problem; understanding American history is not the property of any exclusive club. Both young adults and people who haven't been in a classroom in decades deserve access to history too. The question is whether The War Lovers succeeds among popular audiences, because as a technical achievement it fails.

Evan Thomas's thesis was to compare/contrast the careers of five American public figures, three hawks and two...more The War Lovers is not written for history students or professionals. This alone isn't a problem; understanding American history is not the property of any exclusive club. Both young adults and people who haven't been in a classroom in decades deserve access to history too. The question is whether The War Lovers succeeds among popular audiences, because as a technical achievement it fails.

Evan Thomas's thesis was to compare/contrast the careers of five American public figures, three hawks and two doves, during the so-called "rush to empire" of the late 1890s. The author loses track of two of these central figures (the doves) almost immediately, and in so doing misses his most valuable narrative opportunity: Contrasting the yellow press and the Anti-Imperialist League. Instead, a good 90% of the narrative revolves around the exploits of the hawks, and of that a disproportionate share of the attention goes to Theodore Roosevelt alone. The remaining 10% focuses more on fluff than philosophy.

Then there is the style. The introduction contains a paragraph that basically set my hairs on end. In one paragraph, Thomas writes the words "bitch goddess," "sturm und drang," and "puking" (though the last, to be fair, was a quote by one of the book's highlighted subjects). Such purple prose peppers the narrative, rendering The War Lovers more opinion than objective study. The fact that the type is set in near-giant print and every fourth page or so is covered by an illustration taking up 2/3 of the page means The War Lovers is really a 200 page book stretched into 400 pages with the sophomoric guile of a college freshman padding his four page research paper by increasing the sizes of the margins and spacing.

There is, at the heart of The War Lovers a well timed, play-by-play account of the action on Santiago de Cuba's camino real and the San Juan Heights. It is part Ken Burns, but more firmly modern History Channel style. Solid, if unoriginal. And Thomas's social commentary is mostly on point (if he lacks the empathy to actually undertstand Roosevelt's poorer moments). So all is not quite forfeit. But the value to be found is of a standard issue variety, tuned to general audiences not serious history students.(less)

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May 07, 2010 Joe rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: history buffs.

Recommended to Joe by: NY timew

This is a novel about a very interesting and alive time in American History. Evan Thomas writes well, like a Barbara Tuchman, in his lively treatment of American History and the unusual men that guided her destiny.
Roosevelt, Lodge and Hearst, al dedicated showmen and opportunists, each in a different way, take Americans on an imperialist trip to "Manifest Destiny" and to pick up the "White Mans Burden".
Except for the annexantion of Hawaii, this era of conquest was not driven by economic greed...more

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Apr 07, 2011 Dick Tatro rated it 5 of 5 stars

On page 168. Thomas writes. On memorial Day 1896 William James was asked to speak at the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial in Boston. Shaw was the white commander of the famous all black 54th Massachusetts. He was there to speak about the bravery of the 54th and Shaw but he took a different turn than most such speachs about bravery in war. He said that in battle bravery is not uncommon, it is our nature to fight when confronted. The real bravery was that a person like Shaw who was rich, white and privi...more

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Aug 18, 2011 Breck rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

As the title suggests this follows the parallel histories of Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, newspaperman WR Hearst and philosopher William James (not mentioned) leading up to the Spanish-American War and the battles that followed. While it's obvious the author favors the cool-headed, reasonable James over the war hawks Roosevelt, Lodge and Hearst, you can't really blame him. The aforementioned did much to spread war fever across the industrially rising republic: Roosevelt believed Americ...more

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Feb 05, 2011 Bill rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is an interesting account of the efforts of Theodore Rossevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge and William Randolph Hearst in promoting America's war against Spain at the end of the 19th Century. Ostensibly to free Cuba if not for the civil war raging there they would have found another reason and another place Cuba was handy. While Roosevelt and Lodge (long time friends) worked in consert Hearst was the yellow jouranlist of his day and promoted his New York Journal by promoting the war.
While this stor...more

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Aug 24, 2010 Robert rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-us

Well-written account of the origins of the Spanish-American War, told in brief biographical sketches of those who instigated it, fought it, or vigorously opposed it. The emphasis is on the personalities involved, not on the course of the war. Of that, only the standard account, that centered on the Roosevelt/Rough Rider myth is given; the army campaign in the Philippines and the subsequent insurrection are only briefly mentioned and even then, primarily for their comparison value to Iraq. Unfort...more Well-written account of the origins of the Spanish-American War, told in brief biographical sketches of those who instigated it, fought it, or vigorously opposed it. The emphasis is on the personalities involved, not on the course of the war. Of that, only the standard account, that centered on the Roosevelt/Rough Rider myth is given; the army campaign in the Philippines and the subsequent insurrection are only briefly mentioned and even then, primarily for their comparison value to Iraq. Unfortunately this is common practice. It is not easy to tell the story of this war. Readers want to hear of "American Exceptionalism" - want to believe that the country is under the guidance of a higher power - or, at least, is guided by decency. They are reluctant to believe that the motives for a war might be unworthy - that the country could ever be stirred into a "war frenzy" by propaganda - that its youth might have been sacrificed for the ambitions of a few. Is better to restrict the story to the splendid charge up San Juan Hill. Perhaps this also explains why this book is so timid - why, in telling this story, Thomas is so well-mannered, so reluctant to moralize, so willing to excuse. May also explain why the similarities with the War in Iraq are not drawn. Thomas leaves them unspoken - though they are obviously there, underlying his narrative. Despite this fear of giving offense, of taking a "stand", Thomas has written an interesting book - but it is more a collection of short biographies than a military history - biographies full of psychological insight into the inner lives of a half dozen memorable figures - Roosevelt, Cabot Lodge, Hearst, William James, Henry Adams, Tom Reed - a very, very strange bunch of characters. The most valuable sketch is that of Tom Reed, the now almost forgotten Speaker of the House who risked his political career in vigorously opposing the war, and sacrificed it in opposing the annexation of the Philippines. Valuable also is the insight into the motives of Randolph Hearst, which are usually mistakenly portrayed as financial greed - i.e., to simply increase the circulation of his newspapers. Hearst cared little for money, lost huge sums in covering the war. His motivation was not money but his ambition for fame, for greatness. While Roosevelt wanted to play soldier, wanted to prove his courage, his "manhood" in battle - Hearst wanted more, wanted to be respected as the man "who acts", who gets things done, wanted to be a "world-historical" figure, a man who liberated a country, who saved countless, dark-eyed damsels in distress. Course, like Roosevelt, he also wanted a stepping stone to political power. (less)

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Jun 21, 2011 John Blair rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: completed-reading

Evan Thomas's The War Lovers is the story of how the Spanish American War came about and the embarkation of the United States on an imperialist policy. It is a multiple biography. The war lovers -- Roosevelt, Lodge and Hearst -- are partially balanced by those who opposed the war -- Speaker of the House Thomas Reed and Professor William James.
Roosevelt dominates the story. This is probably inevitable. He was the most involved, most energetic and most colorful of the characters. I was surprised...more

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May 31, 2010 Frank Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Anything Evan Thomas writes about is going to be interesting and well written. This is a very different look at Theodore Roosevelt and it is not particularly flattering. The book attempts to basically peg Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge and publishing magnate William Heast (who did not like or deal directly much with Roosevelt or Lodge) as the precursors of the current US neo-conservative movement (at several points, explicitly). I am not sure I totally agree with Thomas on this thesis and I came a...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Mason added it · review of another edition

Telling the story of the war with Spain by telling the stories of five protagonists (Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, James, Reed) made my brian hurt. It's the print equivalent of GoogleNews - the highlights are there but I get the feeling a lot of notes went unpublished in order to accommodate shorter attention spans.
Like playing Frogger, you know where you are going, but there is a lot of hopping around to get there. There is no savoring of prose and little meditation on why fulsome circumspection i...more

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Jun 30, 2010 Jamie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, non-fiction, politics, war

How do you go about justifying war? With a lot of talk about national pride, some misinformation, and the need to democratize primitive societies. This sounds a little like the rationale for the Iraq War (Part 2). But I'm speaking of the Spanish-American War of 1898, over a century before. Back then, however, there was more emphasis on Anglo-Saxon superiority as well as an exceptionally charismatic leader in the war effort, Teddy Roosevelt. The Civil War was no longer fresh in the people's minds...more

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Aug 25, 2010 Lauren Albert rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-american

Excellent telling of the story of the Spanish-American War--how some powerful and/or strong willed men helped make it inevitable, how it was fought, and what were the consequences. This is the war that made Theodore Roosevelt's name and that started him on his path to the presidency at age 42 in 1901 after McKinley's assassination (as the youngest president ever).

It is also amazing to read about the antics of Hearst and what he got away with (openly manipulating public opinion, showing up at ba...more

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Apr 03, 2010 Bill Preston rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed reading Evan Thomas's profiles of Roosevelt,Lodge and Hearst and the background events, manouvering and outright lies that led the US into it's first war for the sport of it. Thomas only obliquely draws parallels to Bush and Cheney's initiatives to get us into Iraq, but the thought was never far from mind while reading The War Lovers. There was a very real difference between TR and B&C, TR pushed for his splendid little war and then put himself at the very front of the line when th...more

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Feb 03, 2011 Betty rated it 4 of 5 stars

Amazing how HISTORY can be impacted by the agenda of the few. If they have enough influence. This book establishes the Spanish American War as product of T. Roosevelt, H.C.Lodge and W.R.Hearst's goal of re-energizing the United States into its next Social Darwinian "Survival of the Fittest" stage of World Conquest. Should we have even been involved in this war???? Was Spain responsible for the "sinking of the Battleship 'Maine'??? probably not.But we did establish ourselves as a WORLD POWER. Sad...more

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Sep 27, 2010 Thomas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, history

I knew very little about Theodore Roosevelt before reading The War Lovers, and now that I have, I have little desire to know more. The "rush to empire" and the birth of American Exceptionalism is told here in sharp bold strokes. Thomas occasionally says more with one well chosen quotation than other others can in pages of description. It's a little disheartening to see how eager Americans were to engage in a war that was not only unnecessary, but precipitated by war-mongering politicians and yel...more

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Jul 24, 2010 Jana rated it 4 of 5 stars

I learned a lot about Teddy Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Randolph Hearst as major players in the days leading up to the Spanish American War in 1898. These are people and a period of time that I didn't know that much about, and the author really brought them to life. Evan Thomas' writing style is very contemporary, it seemed that these could be people and events from the front pages of today's newspaper. He also draws some interesting comparisons between the events surround the war...more

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Dec 31, 2012 S.J. Dennis rated it 3 of 5 stars

War Lovers is not a book about love nor a book about war. It is a book about politicians and the media and how they can contrive to lead a country into war. In this case it is the Spanish American War. The book can be a ponderous read due to the level of detail and documentation provided by the author. But as a historical book the detail gives the story credibility and fills in a little understood page in American history. For casual readers the book might be too detailed. For students of histor...more

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Jan 14, 2011 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars

I knew some about how the Spanish-American War came about and wanted to read this because it involved Roosevelt, Lodge and Hearst. I'm glad I picked it up. The writing is great; it reads almost as fast as fiction. And I came away with a lesser opinion of Roosevelt (not that I don't still admire him), a higher opinion of Henry Cabot Lodge, and a picture of William Randolph Hearst as an addle-brained nincompoop. William James and Henry Adams also figure in this book and it is interesting to see th...more

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About Evan Thomas

Evan Thomas has been assistant managing editor at Newsweek since 1991. He is the magazine’s lead writer on major news stories and the author of many longer features, including Newsweek’s special behind-the-scenes issues on presidential elections and more than a hundred cover stories. Thomas was pivotal in spearheading Newsweek’s award-winning coverage on the war on terror from the Washington burea...more Evan Thomas has been assistant managing editor at Newsweek since 1991. He is the magazine’s lead writer on major news stories and the author of many longer features, including Newsweek’s special behind-the-scenes issues on presidential elections and more than a hundred cover stories. Thomas was pivotal in spearheading Newsweek’s award-winning coverage on the war on terror from the Washington bureau. His reporting and writing on the terror events of September 11 and the Iraq war contributed to the magazine’s being honored with the most prestigious awards in the magazine industry—the National Magazine Award for General Excellence for 2002 and 2004. In 2005, his 50,000-word narrative of the 2004 election was honored when Newsweek won a National Magazine Award for the best single-topic issue.

From 1986 to 1996, Evan Thomas was Newsweek’s Washington bureau chief. From 1977-1986, he was a writer and editor at Time magazine. He has won numerous journalism awards, including a National Magazine Award in 1998 for his coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Since 1992, Thomas has been a regular weekly panelist on the syndicated public affairs talk show, Inside Washington. He has appeared on numerous television shows as a commentator, including: NBC’s Meet the Press and Today; CBS’s Face the Nation; ABC’s Nightline and Good Morning America; CNN’s Larry King Live; and PBS’s Charlie Rose and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. He also appears regularly on the syndicated radio show, Imus in the Morning.

Evan Thomas is the author of five books, all published by Simon & Schuster: John Paul Jones (2003), a biography of the American revolutionary and a New York Times best seller; Robert Kennedy: His Life (2000); The Very Best Men: The Early Years of the CIA (1995); The Man to See: The Life of Edward Bennett Williams (1991); and The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (with Walter Isaacson, 1986). His sixth and most recent book, Ships in the Night: Four Naval Commanders and the Last Sea War, was published by Simon & Schuster at the end of 2006.

A graduate of Harvard and the University of Virginia Law School, Evan Thomas was a visiting professor at Princeton from 2003 to 2004 and at Harvard from 2004 to 2005. He is a fellow of the Society of American Historians and a former trustee of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. He lives with his wife and two children in Washington, DC.

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Books by Evan Thomas

Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945

Ike's Bluff: President Eisenhower's Secret Battle to Save the World

John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy

The Very Best Men: The Daring Early Years of the CIA

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The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898

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