Rating: 
Summary: Well-Researched, Well-Written
Review: Mr. Morris proves to have done a great deal of research on the presidency of Roosevelt, and presents this in a well-written style, one that holds the reader's interest while offering edification. Very much better than the book on Reagan, and I highly recommend this book for historical buffs as well as the average reader.
Rating: 
Summary: great work on a great man
Review: well the only negative that i think of is that whe had to wait 20years to see this part two of the morris bio graphy another 20 years for part three well
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic !! Buy it for yourself and friends.
Review: The book is a very well written piece of literature. The size of the book gave me pause. I did not have much information or knowledge about TR prior to the book. There are approximately 200 pages of followup information printed in the back. Not just an index. Historical information and so on. It is a great way to do research while reading the book.
I also enjoyed it because of the fantastic description of everything. I felt as though I was there, skeetering down that mountainside on muddy roads, etc. Mr. Morris gave me the opportunity to experience some of what TR did through his style and ability to make every word come alive.
It is not a read for very young beginners but is something that would go well with History courses or as a background book.
Buy this one - keep it and buy copies for your friends. TR is well known as the President, it is the details that many of us do not know.
My last suggestion is to take a look at the information provided here. Some of the pages are available for reading before the purchase of the book. The price they are offering for this literature is very, very low. This is not an indication the book is bad. It only gives you the signal buy it now and get the best possible price available. I was in a local LARGE chain bookstore that also has an online presence. The one benefit of a local store is the ability to read a larger portion of the bok prior to reading it.Lastly - this book is a must read expecially during our current crisis. Finding more of our national history is so very important. We can learn the lessons of days gone by. This will certainly help to educate each reader on what has happened and the lessons found in that day. Good luck and Happy Reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: Theodore Rex disappoints. By practically ignoring Theodore Roosevelt's conservation accomplishments, Theodore Rex neither covers the man or era adequately. One of T.R.'s greatest legacies are his conservation efforts. Even with 555 pages, Morris virtually ignores them. Sure, the writing and research are good, but they are wasted upon such tangential topics as T.R. daughter's love life and his tennis game. After boring me with them page after page, Morris deals with conservation as an afterthought. Roosevelt established the beginnings of the entire National Wildlife Refuge system in 1903. It was the first time the government set out to protect wildlife. Morris ignores the struggle of Pelican Island and plume hunters and of the future
Audubon Society. T.R. used the 1906 Antiquities Act to protect the Grand Canyon.
Anyone knowing of recent conservation struggles with President Clinton, Congress, and the Act, realizes that the Act has an immense impact even today. Once again, Morris ignores it all. He deals with the Act in about four sentences. Roosevelt designated five National Parks, including Mesa Verde, a World Heritage site. Morris gives us a single spetic sentence with no specific mention of Mesa Verde. Roosevelt established 150 National Forests and the National Forest Service. It was an interesting fight between him and Congress, but you won't find it in Theodore Rex. Indeed, the Forest Service isn't mentioned until page 486. I'm not sure why Morris and his editors left all this out. There are some fascianting stories in T.R. and conservation. Morris has the talent to write about them in as riveting fashion as he wrote about T.R.'s tennis. Sadly, he did not. One might enjoy Theodore Rex the way one enjoys a novel, but don't expect to the book to adequately cover either T.R.'s presidency or the era.
Rating: 
Summary: Superficial, Annoying, Technically Flawed
Review: Morris provides a superficial historical sketch with little serious attempt to place events and decision in historical perspective. Roosevelt has been reduced to a 2 diminsional cartoon figure. Its almost as if Morris rushed to fill up the pages to take advantage of the noteriety he gained with Reagan's biography. One trick he uses to get out of the true work of real historians is to load up the pages with true quotes of his characters. This too clever ploy saves him from revealing his embarrassing lack of historical insight.
Putting aside the author's muddled attempt at history, lets consider the quality of the CD recording version of this book. The producer/publisher still haven't realized that many readers who purchase books on cd/tape do so to listen to while exercising. Given that, the period fluctuations of volume above the baseline are extremely annoying and even auricularly painful at times. And these times are numerous (like almost everytime TR is quoted.) When you combine this with the idiotic attempts by the reader to mimic each character with absurd sterotypes of Germans, Chinese, Japanese and even TR himself.
Although I treadmilled away all the CD volumes, this was the most unpleasant listening experience I've had. I will not read Morris again and I will remember the reader's name so that I never get a book on tape that he has a chance to mangle.
Rating:
Summary: Biggest Personality to Occupy the White House
Review: Theodore Rex is the second volume of a promised triology about the life of one of our most fascinating and complex presidents. Morris' first volume was the Pulitzer Prize winning book that chronicals TR's rise to the presidency. This volume opens on September 14, 1901 as TR becomes the youngest president at age 42, following the assassination of William McKinley. Morris reveals the many dimensions of TR's seven and a half years in the White House. It is not always a pretty story. TR loved the Bully pulpit and boldly wielded the power of his office to the great chagrin of party bosses, Wall Street tycoons, and the Congress. One observer determined TR personified the motto, "Rem facias rem, si possis recte, si non quocunque modo rem"--"The thing, get the thing, fairly if possible, if not, then however it can be gotten." He enraged conservative Republicans and financiers with his initiatives against big business, enflamed the White South when he invited Booker T. Washington to the White House for dinner, and cowed party elders and Congress with his understanding of politics and the common man. Along with a huge personality and amazing breadth of interests, TR left an impressive legacy--the Monroe Doctrine reaffirmed and the Old World banished from the New World, a coal strike settlement, the Panama Canal, a brokered peace agreement between Japan and Russia, liberation of Cuba, a greatly strengthened Navy, greater balance between capital and labor, national conservation conference, eighteen national monuments and five national parks, and a folk consensus that he had been the most powerfully positive American leader since Abraham Lincoln. It is hard to conceive that any author could write a more interesting story about a fictitious character. Morris' book is well researched, thoroughly documented, and a pleasure to read. This is surely one of the most interesting biographies written about one of our most fascinating presidents. Hopefully, Morris will not make us wait as long for the next volume in the series as he did for this volume (~22 years).
Rating:
Summary: Another Pulitzer in the Offing?
Review: Edmund Morris has rebounded deftly from last year's "Dutch" fiasco, with an engaging account of the TR Presidency, "Theodore Rex." "Rex" is the second installment in Morris' trilogy on the life of Theodore Roosevelt, picking up where his 1979 Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" left off. With "Rex," Morris has produced another Pulitzer-worthy narrative, and cemented his reputation as a biographer extraordinaire. (It's too bad he squandered his obviously prodigious talent with the ill-fated "Dutch.") Of course, the kinetic TR Presidency, like the hyper-energetic man himself, gives Morris considerable raw material with which to work. Morris paints a compelling picture of President Roosevelt as world statesmen, labor arbiter, social reformer, regulator, conservationist, Monroe Doctrine enforcer, Naval power enthusiast, adroit politician and, of course, canal-building pioneer. If only he sought a third term! "Theodore Rex" is an all-around terrific read. Let's hope that Morris doesn't keep us waiting another 20+ years for the final installment in the life of TR.
Rating:
Summary: T. Rex!
Review: Morris' biography of Roosevelt is very revealing, not only about Teddy Roosevelt, but about how he shaped American politics and policy. His influence is seen to this day in how we engage in warfare and how we also negotiate peace. In a way, Roosevelt did it all; he was president after an assassination;(like Johnson), a very young president (like Kennedy and Clinton), he presided during an age of unprecedented wealth and industrial growth (like Reagan and Clinton), he negotiated a foreign peace and won the Nobel Peace Prize(like Jimmy Carter),engaged in a limited war (like Bush and Bush) and embarked on a massive engineering project, the Panama Canal (Kennedy and the space program.) In a way, he was a model, almost larger than life, for our contemporary presidents. Yet he made some monumental strategic political errors that cost him greatly. Reading Theodore Rex gave me insight not only into his presidency, but that of all the presidents to come after. This is one fantastic biography.
Rating:
Summary: Trust others at your peril
Review: Wow, there are either a lot of Morris family members writing reviews or people who like ponderous prose. Granted, TR's presidential years were full of trust-busting and nature conservation -- not the stuff of thrilling biography -- but Morris is able to squeeze the life out of even the most interesting events. His self-important language, misused vocabulary, and pathetic metaphors will leave you howling in pain. If you like good biography, read McCullough. Run from this book.
Rating:
Summary: It's hard to believe this is non-fiction
Review: One of the finest books I have ever read of any kind. Morris has done a terrific job of scripting bits and pieces of fact into a great story. The reader can easily draw similaities between the domestic and international politics (political intrigue) of then and now, which makes the reading even more interesting and enjoyable.
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