Dry historical fiction about Roosevelt. If you loved this time period or Roosevelt himself, there's enough here to really enjoy. As a passing fan, it was a bit of a chore.

Could be because I didn't like the narrator.

<i>The Old Lion</i> is a historical fiction about Teddy Roosevelt, from boyhood until his death, with the plot of a biographer coming to interview Roosevelt as the catalyst for looking back on his life. I did not know nearly as much about Teddy as his cousin FDR before going into this book, and I was fascinated by what I learned about Teddy Roosevelt. He lived an extraordinary life, and this book is a great introduction to learning about him. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about Teddy Roosevelt.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book.

This was a very interesting audiobook! I learned a lot. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC!

This was an interesting examination of one of our more eccentric presidents. It read well, almost like fiction and I will be passing it on as a recommendation to my friend, who loves Roosevelt.

I love reading about American Presidents - where did they come from and what did they do, as well as how are they remembered. For some reason, probably because he is overshadowed by the more "famous" Roosevelt, I have never read much of anything about Theodore. I found this fascinating to explore his experiences and to get some insight as to how his flamboyant personality was developed. This book was a joy to listen to and took me to some many places around the world. Well worth the time and attention of any history lover.

This book is perfect for anyone wanting to know a little about Teddy Roosevelt but not committing to massive volumes of nonfiction. Theodore is portrayed in this novel as the hero I think he was, but you also see the man that was obstinate, headstrong, and not afraid of anything but his wife and mother dying. I did both the ebook and the audio and I must say that the audio was my favorite. The narrator embodies the TR ambition and bull-mooseness of ole' Teddy himself. He also inserts some depression over the loss of his loved ones, and Quentin. All this to say, this book will take the reader through all the stages of Theodore's life quicker than nonfiction. There are some embellishments (because of the fiction part), and most importantly, to me, this voice gives TR a voice that I could really imagine him using in real life. This book was excellent!!!

Theodore Roosevelt was an icon in American History. He was charismatic and intelligent. This novel spans his early life with his first wife, Alice, to the Badlands and the Spanish-American war all the way to the Roosevelt’s last breath.

I learned so much about Theodore Roosevelt in this novel. It covers so many aspects of Roosevelt’s life and in such great detail. The author and the narrator brought Roosevelt to life for me. I honestly did not know half of what this man did. Now, did he make mistakes and misjudgments, sure he did. He is human. And the author portrays all of this, Roosevelt’s faults and his great deeds!

The reason for the 4 stars is this novel can get a little dry In places and it is very long. But, that is because it is so very well researched.

The narrator, Paul Michael, is on if my favorites and he sounded just like I expected Theodore Roosevelt to sound. A job well done!

Need a very good novel about a true American…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest opinions.
I have to admit that I’ll read any thing by Jeff Shaara, but also Teddy Roosevelt is my go to President. This combo was a match made in heaven for a book!
Jeff Shaara always writes these well researched and presented books. It’s always engaging but informative without being dry. This was no different! I liked the story going between Teddy telling the reporter about his life and then the story unfolding kind of present tense for him.
Teddy is this perfect combination of superman meets president. He wanted to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral. Although, I wouldn’t necessarily call him an attention seeker. It’s just attention seems to follow him.
I found the part about the Spanish American War to be especially gripping. I knew what lead up to him being involved in the going to war, and the result of his being in the war but had not actually read about the during part. I definitely want to read more about the Spanish American war. I also had read some on the trip down the amazon and was riveted about the descriptions in the this book.
Currently , this has been my favorite read of 2023
I was also able to listen to the audiobook and switch back and forth between the two versions. The reader for this was spot on! Teddy sounded exactly how I expected him to sound

I have loved Theodore Roosevelt for the longest time, but this book deep-dives into his life - and brings the man that we see as a myth to life.
Theodore Roosevelt was a larger-than-life figure, but he was not always the rough-and-tumble man that we know from history.

Absolutely LOVED this book! It was a great read, and being able to take a deeper look into this enigmatic man was a treat. I highly recommend this book!

The Old Lion is a lovely homage to Teddy Roosevelt. The choice of historical fiction vs nonfiction provides the author with the flexibility to choose what to share and how to share it. For Teddy Roosevelt lovers there may not be a lot of new ground here. It is a lovely tribute to a fascinating man and terrific president. I had the audio version and the narrator was spectacular. All in all, 3.5 stars.

Many thanks to Macmillan audio and Netgalley for this entertaining book.

An engaging fictional account of Teddy Roosevelt's life.

While largely kept to historic events, this account... rather than just a biography... highlights what Shaara envisions Teddy's last days to be: reminisces of his great acts thru his life.

Bouncing between narrative, internal monalogue and reconstructed battles, this was a great way to get a taste of the Larger-than-life escapades of Roosevelt.

Too, as I listened to this novel, I strongly recommend doing the same, as the narrator is engaging, clear and masters characterizing the voices to bring the story alive!

My thanks to NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a quicker read than I was expecting and I learned a lot about T Roosevelt. He continues to be my favorite president.
Learned a lot more about his earlier years, that was really cool

Overall, this format isn't for me. My fault for not taking the 'novel' part in the title more seriously. I personally would've preferred simply a biography without the framework device, but still very educational

The Old Lion by Jeff Shaara
Narrator, Paul Michael
I have been aware of Jeff Shaara’s work, of course, but have never read one of his books before. I have also read other works about TR, nonfiction and fiction alike. I like the way this book was set out with sections introduced by a portion of Hermann Hagedorn’s interviews which led to more than one book about Roosevelt. Each section is a vignette of a period in TR’s life, including his youth, college years, first marriage and time in the Badlands. Then his return to politics, his second marriage, time as president, his terrifying trip down a tributary of the Amazon and it’s aftermath. All very interesting and it has inspired me to read further on certain areas of his life.
Narration by Paul Michael was excellent as always.
Thanks to NetGalley

I have read quite a bit of non-fiction about Teddy Roosevelt. Despite knowing many of the facts, I still enjoyed this fictional, easy to read and listen to account. I had the audio version and it was fairly good. The reader was great with multiple voices and accents, but the spliced-in edits were often awkward transitions...volume and intonation were sometimes not aligned. I really liked the two time frames within the novel; each section of the book started with an interview of Teddy reminiscing with a reporter who was going to write his biography, and then transitioned to that segment of his life in a more complete accounting.