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.)

It was a surprise for me that MORNINGS ON HORSEBACK is not a biography of President Theodore Roosevelt but, rather, a biography of the young Theodore Roosevelt.That's what I wanted; I needed to understand what made the Roosevelt who became President Roosevelt. I can read a biography of President Roosevelt later.

This account of young Roosevelt's life begins even before he did. Of course, his parents had so much to do with what he became. So his story begins with them.

Although President Roosevelt wrote an autobiography, for some reason, he chose to leave out or at least say little of some people important to young Roosevelt's life. But David McCullough meticulously researched and found what Roosevelt didn't want to talk about.

I only wish McCollough included more about Alice, Roosevelt's child by his first wife. He left baby Alice in the care of his sister shortly after her mother died while he went off to the "far west." But what about after he remarried?

With that one exception, this was an excellent book.