The Imperial Cruise (Reprint) (Paperback) by James Bradley

About the Book

In 1905, President Teddy Roosevelt dispatched Secretary of War William Howard Taft on the largest U.S. diplomatic mission in history to Hawaii, Japan, China, and Korea. A century later, Bradley travels in the wake of Roosevelt's mission to discover what transpired in these meetings.

Book Synopsis

In 1905 President Teddy Roosevelt dispatched Secretary of War William Howard Taft on the largest U.S. diplomatic mission in history to Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, China, and Korea. Roosevelt's glamorous twenty-one year old daughter Alice served as mistress of the cruise, which included senators and congressmen. On this trip, Taft concluded secret agreements in Roosevelt's name.

In 2005, a century later, James Bradley traveled in the wake of Roosevelt's mission and discovered what had transpired in Honolulu, Tokyo, Manila, Beijing and Seoul.

In 1905, Roosevelt was bully-confident and made secret agreements that he though would secure America's westward push into the Pacific. Instead, he lit the long fuse on the Asian firecrackers that would singe America's hands for a century.

Review Quotes

"[Bradley's] ingenious narrative thread is to track an across-the-pacific 1905 goodwill voyage by Roosevelt's emissaries....[his indictment of Roosevelt] raises tantalizing questions."--Gene Santoro, American History

"A page-turner."--Associated Press

"A provocative study...What is fascinating about Bradley's reconstruction of a largely neglected aspect of Roosevelt's legacy is the impact that his racial theories and his obsession with personal and national virility had on his diplomacy. Engrossing and revelatory, The Imperial Cruise is revisionist history at its best."--Ronald Steel, New York Times Book Review

"For readers under the impression that history is the story of good guys and bad guys...this book could be useful medicine."--USA Today

PRAISE FOR THE IMPERIAL CRUISE

"Incendiary...[The Imperial Cruise] is startling enough to reshape conventional wisdom about Roosevelt's presidency."--Janet Maslin, New York Times

About The Author

James Bradley is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Imperial Cruise, Flyboys, and Flags of Our Fathers, and a son of one of the men who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima.