Obama or The King and the Cowboy

Obama: The Historic Front Pages

Author: David Elliot Cohen

Celebrate a milestone in American history: The election of President Barack Obama

Yes, he did! When Barack Obama became president-elect on November 4, 2008, he transformed Martin's Luther King's dream into reality. Obama, and the 66.3 million Americans who voted for him, proved to the world that all things are possible. And the day after, people from coast to coast lined up to buy newspapers as souvenirs. The demand was unprecedented, with stands and stores quickly selling out: USA Today sold an extra 380,000 copies, for example, while the Atlanta Journal-Constitution went back to print five times.

Now, everyone can own a piece of history, thanks to this gorgeous commemorative album of front pages that capture Barack Obama's extraordinary journey to the White House. Featuring newspapers both domestic and foreign, and depicting all the landmarks in this groundbreaking campaign-including the inauguration-Obama is a stunning keepsake for all who experienced this remarkable moment…and future generations, too.

• The only book to feature five historic speeches as well as front covers of three significant moments: when Obama won the Democratic nomination; when he became the first African-American elected president; and when he was sworn in

• Includes the historic speech "A More Perfect Union," delivered at Constitution Hall, Philadelphia, March 18, 2008

• Will include newspapers from both America and around the world, with pull quotes and translations of foreign headlines

• Original images of the inauguration taken especially for this book

• An introduction by Howard Dodson, director of the prestigious Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library

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The King and the Cowboy: Theodore Roosevelt and Edward the Seventh: The Secret Partners

Author: David Fromkin

The story of the unlikely friendship between King Edward the Seventh of England and President Theodore Roosevelt, which became the catalyst for an international power shift and the beginning of the American century.

Publishers Weekly

In this problematic book, Boston University professor Fromkin (A Peace to End All Peace) asserts a personal strategic relationship between president Theodore Roosevelt and King Edward VII during the Algeciras Conference of 1906. The gathering was to mediate the future of Morocco; France, backed by other European powers, argued for protectorate status, while Germany, wanting to end French dominance in Morocco, argued for independence. The bulk of the book recounts the lives of Edward VII, his tempestuous nephew Kaiser Wilhelm II, and of TR prior to Algeciras. In emphasizing a collaboration between Roosevelt and Edward, neither of whom attended the conference, Fromkin seems to discount the roles of lead mediator Henry White, and his capable assistant Samuel R. Gunnmere, in orchestrating the results, which were largely unfavorable to Germany. Fromkin likewise discounts the machinations of the British Foreign Office, which outweighed any influence the monarch might have had. Only one direct communiqué-secret or otherwise-between TR and Edward, dispatched after the conference, is cited, making Fromkin's assertion of a close "secret partnership" a reach. Overall, Fromkin's volume is without a raison d'être. Illus. (Sept. 5)

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William D. Pederson - Library Journal

Fromkin (international relations, history & law, Boston Univ.; Europe's Last Summer: Who Started the Great War in 1914?) is exceptionally well qualified to tell the story of Theodore Roosevelt and King Edward VII, who both came into positions of power in 1901, albeit with a difference. As Americans tend to confuse their presidents and get absolutely lost among British monarchs, Fromkin first provides readers with the essential Victorian background. In large part because of Victoria's dominance as the longest-serving British monarch, her oldest son, the future Edward VII, became an aging playboy. Yet he was a playboy with a serious side, more open to the world than his mother, ultimately emerging as a "people's king." Fromkin argues that both Roosevelt and Edward were in part "self-invented" characters who ultimately came to share world views. The bad guy in this narrative is the future Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Edward's nephew. Born with a withered arm, he has long been described as trying to make up for that with other expressions of power. Fromkin brings to light the Morocco Crisis of 1905-06 to show, ironically, that it was a prudish president and a playboy king who joined forces then and effectively established an alliance against Germany. A joy to read, this book will appeal to Roosevelt and royalist readers alike. Highly recommended for general and academic libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ5/15/08.]