THE WAR LOVERS Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898

Fans of audio nonfiction have come to expect a measured, neutral tone in factual material. Usually the narrator keeps emotions under wraps. Listeners may be taken aback to discover that Richard Davidson puts plenty of feeling into his rendering of this book. Characters have all the quirks and personalities one envisions in high drama, and happily this soon comes to feel just right, like one is hearing a rousing good tale told by T.R. himself. Newsweek’s editor-at-large Thomas explores the question of why we romanticize war. While that question may never be satisfactorily answered, this is a fascinating look at some of the people whose decisions shaped our own history. D.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2010]