The Splendid Little War: The Dramatic Story of the Spanish-American War

by Frank Freidal, Mark Clodfelter (Introduction)

"It has been a splendid little war..." wrote John Hay to Theodore Roosevelt as the Spanish-American War ended in 1898. Indeed it was splendid for the American public, but for the Rough Riders and other soldiers it was as grim, dirty and bloody as any war. Only the ineptitude of the Spaniards, and the luck of the Americans, kept it from stretching into a disastrous struggle. The Splendid Little War is the compelling story of this often overlooked conflict, told largely in the words of the participants themselves. It was a war people by the famous and those soon to Theodore Roosevelt, Stephen Crane, Clara Barton and William Jennings Bryan are among those who played key roles in the war against Spain. Above all, as Freidel writes, the Spanish-American War marked the end of an "Beyond the 'splendid little war' hung the indefinite shadow of world cataclysm....Few Americans dreamed how different the United States would be afterwards."

Genres: History, Military History, Military Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1958

Reviews

[Davy Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teddy Roosevelt gets too much credit.
Gen. Nelson A. Miles doesn't get enough.

A personality and power thing.

Miles was in charge and fairly old, and had inherited a bad situation. He was the last commanding general of th US Army.
President McKinley didn't like him, and Miles was a glory chasing 'brave peacock', but Ted was tops in this department. Cuz New Deal Frank slurped too.

Miles was also a Democrat, a resounding failure as a presidential candidate in that Party in 1904.

Ted was the penultimate establishment man. He did some good [National Parks etc], but his Bull Moose run in 1912 got us Woodrow and WW1, not to mention the Fed and the Income Tax [preludes to the War, England needed surefire support and they got it by fiat].

I am going to catch something from 1962 if I don't donate this tiny Dell paperback.

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book on a forgotten war that taught the U.S. War Department just how poorly they were prepared for a war.

[Michael Duchaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a great book if you're looking for a condensed summary of the two month-long war. The truth is, this war was won by pure luck and failure to act on Spain's part, and the author is great at recognizing this. I also appreciate that he didn't glorify Roosevelt and his Rough Riders' attack at San Juan Hill as is often the case with other works.
I would have liked to see the author go into more detail of the (many) notable names he references. I lost track of the number of Medal of Honor recipients and future four-star officers named inconspicuously. It also would have been good to get some type of background of the atmosphere of the homefront. After all it was the first major military campaign not only overseas, but since the end of the Civil War.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wealth of first-person narratives highlights "A Splendid Little War," which chronicles the brief Spanish-American War of 1898. Frank Freidel constructs his story with a large number of first-person accounts, and this goes a long way in giving the reader an intimate view of the war on a personal level. The book focuses mainly on the campaign in Cuba (the siege of Santiago) and also has brief chapters on the action in the Philippines and Puerto Rico. While certainly not an comprehensive overview of the conflict, "The Splendid Little War" is a good introduction into one of America's lesser-known wars.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short book. It does a good job of summarizing some of the main points of why the conflict started, who the major players were and what the outcome was. Other than that, there are may better books out there that cover the subject.