THEODORE ROOSEVELT IN THE FIELD by Michael R. Canfield ( 9780226298375 )

Item Details

Title:

THEODORE ROOSEVELT IN THE FIELD

By:

Michael R. Canfield

Format:

Hardback

List price:

£31.00

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£27.90

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10% off

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£3.10

ISBN 10:

022629837X

ISBN 13:

9780226298375

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Publisher:

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS

Pub. date:

16 November, 2015

Pages:

472

Description:

Theodore Roosevelt first set foot into the field as a very young man, started a natural history museum at 8 years old, and reveled in expeditions in the field throughout his life. His adventures defined him--his policies and his persona--and are wonderfully chronicled in his journals and notebooks. TR's constant quest and passion for the outdoors influenced his experiences from the Spanish American War, to negotiations with Cuba, to hikes through Yellowstone with John Muir. Michael Canfield uses the notebooks to illuminate the force of nature in TR's life. He isolates the elements that drove Roosevelt-- his love of science and nature, his need to express manliness, his drive for empire--all of which share a common thru line, that of a propelling wish to act these out in the field. The outdoors to Roosevelt was like a perfect field jacket, which had a specific purpose, and yet which he donned for many pursuits--hunting, fishing, hiking, natural history study. This work invites readers to join TR on his adventures, with Canfield as a guide, and in the pages of his writings unearth a better understanding of what drove one of history's most remarkable characters.

Synopsis:

Never has there been a president less content to sit still behind a desk than Theodore Roosevelt. When we picture him, he's on horseback or standing at a cliff's edge or dressed for safari. And Roosevelt was more than just an adventurer-he was also a naturalist and campaigner for conservation. His love of the outdoor world began at an early age and was driven by a need to not simply observe nature but to be actively involved in the outdoors-to be in the field. As Michael R. Canfield reveals in Theodore Roosevelt in the Field, throughout his life Roosevelt consistently took to the field as a naturalist, hunter, writer, soldier, and conservationist, and it is in the field where his passion for science and nature, his belief in the manly, "strenuous life," and his drive for empire all came together. Drawing extensively on Roosevelt's field notebooks, diaries, and letters, Canfield takes readers into the field on adventures alongside Roosevelt. From Roosevelt's early childhood observations of ants to his notes on ornithology as a teenager, Canfield shows how Roosevelt's quest for knowledge coincided with his interest in the outdoors.We later travel to the Badlands, after the deaths of Roosevelt's wife and mother, to understand his embrace of the rugged freedom of the ranch lifestyle and the western wilderness. Finally, Canfield takes us to Africa and South America as we consider Roosevelt's travels and writings after his presidency. Throughout, we see how the seemingly contradictory aspects of Roosevelt's biography as a hunter and a naturalist are actually complementary traits of a man eager to directly understand and experience the environment around him. As our connection to the natural world seems to be more tenuous, Theodore Roosevelt in the Field offers the chance to reinvigorate our enjoyment of nature alongside one of history's most bold and restlessly curious figures.

Publication:

Imprint:

University of Chicago Press

Returns:

Returnable

Some other items by this author:

FIELD NOTES ON SCIENCE AND NATURE

FIELD NOTES ON SCIENCE AND NATURE (HB)

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