The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898

This volume recounts the story of a monumental turning point in U.S. history: on February 15, 1898, the American ship USS Maine mysteriously exploded in the Havana Harbor. News of the blast quickly reached U.S. shores, where it was met by some not with alarm but great enthusiasm. A powerful group of war lovers, among them Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge, agitated that the United States exert its muscle across the seas. The Maine would provide the excuse they had been waiting for to plunge into war. On the other side were Roosevelt's former teacher, philosopher William James, and his friend and political ally, Thomas Reed, the powerful Speaker of the House. Both foresaw a disaster. At stake was not only sending troops to Cuba and the Philippines, Spain's sprawling colony on the other side of the world, but the friendships between these men.