This book, gotten out under the auspices of the Roosevelt Memorial Association, containing many of the speeches and writings of Thoodore Roosevelt, happily draws no conclusions such as "here was a man" or "read ye, and by your reading increase in stature." The compiler, Mr. Hermann Hagedorn, wisely contents himself with the selection and arrangement of his material. The result is that the book gains power thereby, and at the same time flatters the reader that he will draw the right inferences from the text without any additional urge from without.

In the selection of material Mr. Hagedorn has drawn from a multitude of services in such a way as to leave one with a vivid impression of the variety of Roosevelt's interests. We read in turn bits from Roosevelt's the historian, the philosopher, the soldier, the statesman, the sportsman, and, what is more personal, Roosevelt the friend and adviser of men.

Such is the material which Mr. Hagedorn builds together into one volume, and, from the right placing of this material, brings about the charm and success of the book as a distinct unit.

First Mr. Hagedorn shows us extracts from such books as "The Winning of the West" and "Hero Tales from American History" which represent the historical background that Roosevelt possessed. Then he turns to the body of the book which he devotes to the "Roosevelt philosophy."

1. The Elemental Virtues--The Basis of Good Citizenship.

2. Good Citizenship--the Basis of Just Government.

3. Just Government--The Basis of National Unity.

4. National Unity--The Basis of National Strength.

5. National Strength--The Basis of International Peace.

Herein is expounded the carefully thought out philosophy of a man of action. What one might call the theory of action. And finally in the last part Mr. Hagedorn gives us "the man of action". It makes a fitting climax of all that has gone before.

The book as a whole gives one the same feeling that one used to get when talking to Theodore Roosevelt--a realization of personality, of personal interest, of vitality, and of a dynamic force.