CHIDSEY : The Spanish-American War (fülszöveg)
"You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war." So cabled William Randolph Hearst to Frederic Remington, the artist covering the conflict in Cuba, and soon after, the Spanish-American-War erupted with the full force of public opinion behind it. Now, in Donald Barr Chidsey's THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, the whole historical panorama is re-created with stirring realism—the battles, intrigues, feuds, and colorful personalities.
The situation in Cuba at the end of the nineteenth century was tense. Gateway to the Caribbean, guarding the passage to the Gulf of Mexico and the mouth of the Mississippi, Cuba was the perfect strategic spot for the United States to install a coaling station. Internal strife shook the country, rebellion against Spain seemed imminent, and then, with the sinking of the American battleship Maine in Havana harbor, the situation blew sky high.
With customary verve, Chidsey describes Admiral Dewey's victory at the battle of Manila bay; Theodore Roosevelt's escapades with his volunteer cavalry, the "Rough Riders"; the battle of San Juan Heights, and the battle of Santiago Bay. He provides keen insights into the men who stood behind the war—Major General William R. Shafter, who weighed three hundred pounds and had a vile temper; Admiral William Sampson, small, quiet, and reserved; Commodore Winfield Schley, flamboyant and gruff, constantly at odds with Admiral Sampson.
THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR is a welcome addition to Donald Barr Chidsey's fascinating series of popular histories. It is a brilliant portrayal of an expansionist war, fought for the ideal of America's "manifest destiny," and aided by the pedestrian goals of "yellow journalism" and capital gain. In many ways, it is a modern book relevant for our times.
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| KATALÓGUS | TARTALOM |
