School Library Journal Review: Starred Review. Gr 7 Up?Bully! Marrin does it again, this time with a survey of Roosevelt's robust contribution to our country's political history and to the office of the presidency itself. Born into a rapidly changing industrial America, Roosevelt expanded the influence of the executive branch to tackle labor disputes, corporate monopolies, and environmental conservation. Marrin states that, "?in a sense we still live in the America he helped to shape," referring in part to the 26th president's progressive attitudes toward protecting factory workers and miners from exploitation, his successful crusade for a canal across Central America, and his Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War. Even these triumphs, however, often pale in contrast to the man's repute as a sportsman, a hunter, and an architect of America's awesome global power. He despised "sissies," traitors, and fools; he shot an elephant in Africa and ate its roasted heart; he sent a fleet of 26 ships around the world to flaunt the muscle of the United States Navy. By his own account, Roosevelt loathed violence and bloodshed; however, he did not shy away from shrewd or honest battles; even years after his presidency, he insisted that America should join the Allied Forces in World War I. Marrin does justice to his subject's complex nature. The large-format text is replete with archival photos of early 20th-century America, political cartoons, and portraits of the Roosevelt family. Students may consult the index to locate specific information for assignments, but any fan of history or sociology will read the biography from cover to cover.?Denise Ryan, Middlesex Middle School, Darien, CT Copyright ? Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.