马背上的清晨 (1982)

《马背上的清晨》是著名历史学家大卫·麦卡洛于1981年撰写的关于美国第26任总统西奥多·罗斯福的传记，涵盖了罗斯福早年的生活。该书为麦卡洛赢得了他的第二个美国国家图书奖和第一个《洛杉矶时报》图书奖 。

概括

故事始于1869年的纽约，首先介绍了罗斯福一家：父亲老西奥多·罗斯福、母亲米蒂·布洛克·罗斯福以及他们的孩子们：安娜（昵称巴米）、西奥多、埃利奥特（后来成为埃莉诺·罗斯福的父亲）和科琳（昵称康妮）。随后，麦卡洛回顾了老罗斯福和米蒂的成长经历，讲述了他们的恋爱和婚姻，以及孩子们的故事，最后以西奥多与伊迪丝·卡劳的订婚作结。

写作过程

在为《大洋之间》进行研究时（该书讲述巴拿马运河的历史及西奥多·罗斯福在其建设中的角色），麦卡洛说：“我感兴趣的是，想弄清楚这项最引人注目的‘有生命的奇迹’究竟经历了怎样的蜕变。”

在哈佛大学霍顿图书馆的西奥多·罗斯福文献中，麦卡洛发现了罗斯福家族成员之间成千上万封信件。他回忆说：“那一刻我意识到，自己遇上了一个真正精彩而又庞大的研究主题。”这些丰富的书信让他得以前所未有地深入呈现一个维多利亚时代美国上层家庭的生活。他表示：“我努力去理解那个个体，不仅放在他最亲近、对他最重要的家人关系中去看他，也放在他们所处的那个社会阶层背景中去观察这个家庭。”

麦卡洛谈到了解未来总统的成长环境的重要性时说：“如果要说哪一项发现或启示最重要，那就是认识了罗斯福生命中最关键的人：老西奥多·罗斯福。他是本书的核心人物，就像他在罗斯福的生命中一样。我认为，若不了解他父亲是怎样的人，就无法真正了解西奥多·罗斯福……事实上，如果我能对读者许一个愿望，那便是希望你读完本书后能够深刻感受到老西奥多·罗斯福是多么伟大的一位人物。” 麦卡洛最终选择在“小罗斯福作为一个人已基本成形、作者以及读者都能够说‘他已经在那里了’”的时刻结束了这段故事。

Mornings on Horseback is a 1981 biography of the 26th President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt written by popular historian David McCullough, covering the early part of Roosevelt's life. The book won McCullough's second National Book Award and his first Los Angeles Times Prize for Biography.

Summary

The story begins in New York in 1869 by introducing the family: father Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., mother Mittie Bulloch Roosevelt and their children Anna (called Bamie), Theodore, Elliott (who becomes the father of Eleanor Roosevelt) and Corinne (called Conie). McCullough then flashes back to the backgrounds of Theodore, Sr. and Mittie, followed by their courtship and marriage, then the stories of their children, ending with Theodore's engagement to Edith Carow.

Writing process

During his research for The Path Between the Seas, describing the history of the Panama Canal and Theodore Roosevelt's role in its construction, McCullough says "I was interested in knowing what was involved in the metamorphosis of this most conspicuous animate wonder."

Discovering thousands of letters in the Theodore Roosevelt Collection at Harvard's Houghton Library between the members of the Roosevelt family, "I realized what a truly marvelous and very large subject I had." The wealth of correspondence allowed him to reveal the life of a well-to-do Victorian American family in depth heretofore unseen. He says "I've tried to see that individual, not just in the context of his family who were the closest to him and most important to him, but also to see the family in the context of a particular social class in which they were prominent."

McCullough speaks of the value in knowing who raised the future President: "If there was one discovery or revelation that meant the most, it was coming to know Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., who is central to this book, as he was in the life of his small namesake. I think it is fair to say that one can not really know Theodore Roosevelt...without knowing the sort of man his father was. Indeed, if I could have one wish for you the reader, it would be that you come away from the book with a strong sense of what a great man Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. was"

McCullough chose to end the story "when I thought he was formed as a person, when I felt I could say, when the reader could say, there he is."