I am reading RIVER OF DOUBT.

Roosevelt adventure in the Amazon.

The quote below is true to form.


“It was while he was fighting with the Venezuelan insurgents in an unsuccessful uprising against the tyranny of Castro,” Roosevelt wrote of Cherrie’s involvement in the effort to topple Venezuelan tyrant Cipriano Castro. “He was on foot, with five Venezuelans, all cool men and good shots. In an open plain they were charged by twenty of Castro’s lancers, who galloped out from behind cover two or three hundred yards off. It was a war in which neither side gave quarter and in which the wounded and the prisoners were butchered. . .. Cherrie knew that it meant death for him and his companions if the charge came home; and the sight of the horsemen running in at full speed, with their long lances in rest and the blades glittering, left an indelible impression on his mind. But he and his companions shot deliberately and accurately; ten of the lancers were killed, the nearest falling within fifty yards; and the others rode off in headlong haste. A cool man with a rifle, if he has mastered his weapon, need fear no foe.”

There are situations where accurate fire from a personal defensive weapon solves the problem.

I liked "River of Doubt". I knew of Kermit's end, but not much about his life. Also, I'd never read anything about Colonel Rondon, who was a really interesting man. Murder, poison dart shooting tribes (who Rondon refused to fire back at). Pretty interesting stuff. Maybe a little too much description of Amazonian flora for me, but a great book.

A good book indeed! We could use another president of his caliber. Long overdue.