THE KING AND THE COWBOY Hardback - 2008

de Fromkin, David

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

In The King and the Cowboy, renowned historianDavid Fromkin reveals how two unlikely world leaders Edwardthe Seventh of England and Theodore Roosevelt recast themselvesas respected political players and established a friendshipthat would shape the course of the twentieth century in waysnever anticipated.

In 1901, these two colorful public figures inheritedthe leadership of the English-speaking countries. Followingthe death of his mother, Queen Victoria, Edward ascended thethrone. A lover of fine food, drink, beautiful women, and thepleasure-seeking culture of Paris, Edward had previously beenregarded as a bon vivant. The public even Queen Victoriaherself doubted Edward's ability to rule the British Empire.Yet Edward would surprise the world with his leadership andhis canny understanding of the fragility of the British Empireat the apex of its global power.

Across the Atlantic, Vice President Roosevelt thearistocrat from Manhattan who fashioned his own legend,going west to become a cowboy succeeded to the presidencyafter President McKinley's 1901 assassination. Rising abovecriticism, Roosevelt became one of the nation's most belovedpresidents.

The King and the Cowboy provides new perspectiveon both Edward and Roosevelt, revealing how, at theoft-forgotten Algeciras conference of 1906, they workedtogether to dispel the shadow cast over world affairs by Edward'sill-tempered, power-hungry nephew, Kaiser Wilhelm II ofGermany. At Algeciras, the U.S and major European powersallied with Britain in protest of Germany's bid for Moroccanindependence. In an unlikely turn of events, the conferenceserved to isolate Germany and set the groundwork for the forgingof the Allied forces.

The King and the Cowboy is an intimate study oftwo extraordinary statesmen who in part because of their allianceat Algeciras would become lauded international figures.Focusing in particular on Edward the Seventh's and TheodoreRoosevelt's influence on twentieth-century foreign affairs,Fromkin's character-driven history sheds new light on the earlyevents that determined the course of the century.