This is an expanded version of Roosevelt's account of his military exploits in the jungles of Cuba, in which he describes encounters with Spanish snipers, malaria and giant land crabs. The original text is supplemented by a lengthy prologue outlining Roosevelt's life and times. Also included are sidebars dealing with various aspects of America's first imperial war; the mysterious explosion of the battleship Maine; the irresponsible reportage of the country's yellow journalists; the contributions of the smoked Yankees - black soldiers who fought and died alongside their white compatriots for a nation still ruled by Jim Crow; and a newly-discovered Rough Riders diary, here published for the first time.