McCullough dwells on the very early and personal life of Theodore Roosevelt and the events that molded him to become the President.

McCullough uses vivid cultural and historical detail to illuminate Teddy Roosevelt's childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. I found the first two-thirds of the book more interesting than the last third, mostly because the political detail grew tedious for me. This book would be a great selection for a book club whose focus is on history. (Note to ebook readers: you don't reach 100% completion until you have gone through the copious endnotes, covering about 30% of the total pages.)