The Triumphant Life of Theodore Roosevelt edited by J. Martin Miller

THE LAUNCHING OF A MAN 55
considerable literary record for so young a writer. His papers
descriptive of his hunting, camp and ranch life are very read-
able; but Mr. Roosevelt's most important work has been the
presentation of different phases of the American historical
development.
THE WINNING OF THE WEST
His studies on the Naval War and the New York munic-
ipality are done in the true spirit of scholarly investigation.
Most comprehensive and valuable of all is his "The Winning
of the West," in which he tells the story with admirable fresh-
ness, grasp and a sense of the drama underlying the evolution
of the Western States. His taste for experience in the adven-
turous overcoming of material difficulties, and the rough-and-
ready life of the open, have led him to select sympathetically
a fine subject, which he has treated in a way to re-create the
past, and make this series very acceptable for its clear, vivid
sketches of pioneer conditions out of which the West has
sprung.
What interests Mr. Roosevelt here, and in his biographies,
is the development of American personalities and of the
American idea from all manner of untoward environment.
Mr. Roosevelt, because of his stalwart independence and
aggressive honesty in political life, has become a hero with
those who are striving for the purification of American politics.
VIGOROUS THOUGHT AND WORTHY IDEALS
He has a strong force for good, and his books reflect the
same quality of vigorous thought and worthy ideals. His
sturdy Americanism is to be felt alike in his acts and words.
Indeed, he may be said to have all the characteristics, in the
highest and most successful degree, of the "typical American."