"Colonel Roosevelt"

[fiefoe]

Mark Deakins's robust yet agile voice suits Edmund Morris's presidential subject very well. 

TR lived through a fascinating era. That was a time when missives had to be dispatched to Nairobi by runners, and yet kodakers were already on the scene;  Franz Joseph and fellow guests still performed ablution at banquets while Klimt and Schiele were doing 'pornographic nudes'. To say nothing of handlebar mustaches!

Kaiser Wilhelm II with his withered left arm was the most ominous figure in the chapter on TR's tour of Europe. The episode of King Edward VII's 'wake' was almost comical. 'Even after he had said goodnight, three more kings pursued him to the palace door.' It's startling to realize that the Edwardian era lasted only 9 years.