A part of me almost wanted to like this less for some odd reason. This was so well written and researched - heavily relying on primary sources & exploring them so thoroughly. Every time I put the book down I found myself thinking about all of the people involved. I was initially expecting a bio (birth to earth style) with heavy focus on T.R.'s presidential years. I ended up being SO engaged with the story of his father and sister (Bammie), that I found myself happy that it focused more on the family in general as opposed to T.R. himself. It did a phenomenal job of explaining how these people became who they were - esp T.R. - discussing their faults as well as their strengths. I will definitely thinking about & discussing this book for a while.