Introduction: New York City, 1899 -- 1. "The puerility of his simplifications" -- 2. "One does not make war with bonbons" -- 3. "A burst of thunder" -- 4. "The days of '61 have indeed come again" -- 5. "This untailor-made roughness -- 6. "A perfect welter of confusion" -- 7. "Who would not risk his life for a star?" -- 8. "No country on the Earth more beautiful" -- 9. "We're liable to all be killed today" -- 10. "The monotony of continuous bacon" -- 11. "An amphitheatre for the battle" -- 12. "Humpty-Dumpty on the wall" -- 13. "They look just like other men" -- 14. "The strenuous life".;When America declared war on Spain in 1898, the US Army had just 26,000 men. In desperation, the Rough Riders were born. A unique group of volunteers, ranging from Ivy League athletes to Arizona cowboys and led by Theodore Roosevelt, they helped secure victory in Cuba in a series of gripping, bloody fights across the island. Risen dives deep into the daily lives and struggles of Roosevelt and his regiment, using diaries, letters, and memoir to illuminate a war of only six months' time that dramatically altered the United States' standing in the world. -- adapted from jacket;"The dramatic story of the most famous regiment in American history: the Rough Riders, a motley group of soldiers led by Theodore Roosevelt, whose daring exploits marked the beginning of American imperialism in the 20th century"--