the key to t.r.'s conservation is he did it with this group, but congress and particularly western senators and congressmen were not into the federal government grabbing an area like the grand canyon and closing it off. roosevelt's conservation can be seen as he was inspired by lincoln's emancipation and the power of the federal government and roosevelt's heroes were keen on protecting yellowstone. general grant saved yellowstone in 1872 as president and sherman and sheridan, the union generals were hunters but they wanted to create game reserves. and so roosevelt's part of that tradition somewhat also but he is determined to use the executive power to save wild america. >> go back to the business of the archives here. are you afraid maybe that you have opened this place up to others that they would discover and take away this -- you have had a special look at this stuff? >> no. what i want, brian, is to come. it's a campus environment here. you want scholars to start looking in this. look, you can't

and t.r. wrote about him, and for him, it's [speaking foreign language] dutch for uncle. and he thanks him in the books and gives a tribute to the greatest american of burrows. and would write about a blue bird building a nest or how the river flows. and john muir in california was the nature. and burrows, said in a blade of grass you can learn a lot about nature. and a brilliant writer, i have been working with the burrows foundation to be sure his writings get perserved. he belongs in the top tier, one the top 20 writers we have ever had. in my opinion one of the finest natural writers. t.r. loved him and he took him hiking and camping. and took him on that trip out to the west. and when he had pine knot, only for the wife and kids. and the only guest was john burrows. and would go bird watching. and there is no higher compliment to burrows from theodore roosevelt. >> you had a person expression and saying that he loved walt whitman. and didn't have a relationship, why did you write that? >>

t.r. more than f.d.r. is a believer in the power of the federal government and he wants the federal government to protect american wilderness for future generations. >> do you like that? >> i think it's spot on. who doesn't want to -- you know what would have happened with yellowstone? this was when he was a civil service commissioner. they were going to take the railroad wanted to cut through the middle of yellowstone build it up as a commercial center and allow people to build all of these contraptions, coney island sites in the middle of yellowstone. roosevelt and the boon and crocket club went to congress to stop it to protect the integrity of yellowstone. 90% of the americans would say it's a good thing. >> do you like the idea that he just declared that is going to be a wilderness -- >> i did. >> how would you like it if someone declared your home? >> that's what it was like back then. it was a moment to save wild america and it was a moment to save our species and habitat. he had hiked to the top of

t.r. loved them. he was not what we call by modern terms a kind of wholistic -- he believed in hunting. he did not believe in hunting so you make a species extinct. so, yes, he cared about snail darts. he cared about butterflies. he cared about wild flowers. he wanted to make sure we had a place for that in modern society. so whatever people are learning in zimbabwe about wildlife protection or in australia, it's borne out of ruse roosevelt's presidency, this sense of global wildlife protection. >> how often in your research for this book did you go away from a conversation or a place and say, boy, they haven't been doing their job. >> on the ground, you mean? >> i mean, did you ever get irritated by the attitude that somebody had in research or one of these federal agencies that keep all the stuff or libraries? or do you think -- do you -- what kind of mark do you give them? >> i give them an a across the board on being open. not that many people are writing about the history of wildlife protection o

t.r. was networking. it's a book of t.r. and a conservation any of the around him. there are men who had a smithsonian institute. they bread buffalo at the bronx zoo. he was the founder of the bronx zoo. i didn't want them to be relevant gated anymore just to a specialist. it's a circle of these people around him. how many of these other places did you spend time in? >> almost all. all the national parks are vivelted. this has been my hobby visiting roosevelt's places. when was very exciting for me. pine gnat is a cabin in the wild. roosevelt as president saw the last alive passenger pigon. there used to be 100 million. roosevelt wrote the last ob serveation of one in the wild. pine knot shows the real t.r. people don't want to think of roosevelt's conservation as a policy as much as a passion. >> he got romantic excitement from seige speesies5m÷ in the wild. this place is paid for by the taxpayer. >> that's one of the reasons i wanted you to come. you look in the fass i have yick coast. you see them on the map. he saved those. he was very interested in wild life p

these are all t.r. last one. roosevelt in hawaii -- if you grab a map -- viewers look at a map in hawaii. you see the hawaiian islands. look to the west of hawaii heading towards midway. roosevelt saved all of that for bird sanctuaries. not just that, he's threatened war with japan when japan, for example, would try to kill birds on that island. he'd threaten war with japan. an alaska chain where he saved seal herds, roosevelt heard that a group of japanese seal hunters went on american, a pell go, rocks, and killed american seals, and he would not -- he was gears up for war if need be with japan over seals. so we're not using a title for this book "the wilderness warrior" -- this wasn't just a policy. it's not like doing conservation on richard nixon or something. this was a whole other thing. you can't understand the essence of theodore roosevelt if you don't understand his relationship with darwin, with the big game and forestry of america. >> who introduced roosevelt to darwin? >> that's a good question. roos

i've been going to t.r. conferences really since the 1980s. my hobby was less t.r. than the sites that he saved. when happened with the reagan diaries is i wasn't expecting it. about our rangers and d. day. peat wilson, the former governor of california. there was a stiplation. one with mrs. reagan that ended it up quickly. i had been working on rose velt. this is such an important thing to do. you were living in new orleans? >> yes. i was professor at tulane. i named my study center. the theodore roosevelt study center. >> at rice university nourks i teach a class on theodore roosevelt and conservation. meaning, i have been informing myself lady bird johnson. up until the present time viewing in the warming. i wanted to see all that. when did dot reagan diaries? >> what we have doing this year is bringing out the complete diary in a boxed set. i was working on this book for a long time. i picked one. when you go there. on my field-o notes you are the expert. help me. in the main office, we have the clippings. at that time when i'm writing it, it becomes chronologic

or the islands off of san francisco, and these are all t.r. last one, roosevelt in hawaii, look to the west of hawaii heading to asia. roosevelt saved all of that for bird sanctuaries. and not just that, he threatened war with japan, when they tried to kill birds on the islands. and he threatened war, and roosevelt heard that a group of japanese field hunters came on american seals, and he would not, he was gearing up for war if need be with japan over seals. when i use the title "wilderness warrior." this was a whole other thing. you can't understand the essence of theodore roosevelt if you don't understand darwin and the understanding of america. >> who introduced roosevelt to darwin? >> it's interesting, roosevelt's father was an early reader of darwin. t.r. when 14 or 15, he was in egypt and he writes about darwin. in fact, brian, in my book he draws out how we evolved from the stork. roosevelt has himself evolving from an stork. and draws pictures from it and shows his brother evolving from apes. darwin's species came out in 1858. and by

i am like t.r. for my love of animals. we just had a kid of ra queues born under my daughter's bedroom. i like to have wild life around me.

coming out with african-american history including this biography of sojourners truth, a biography of t.r. and how word and early civil-rights 37 who was he? to make a civil-rights advocate that does not get the attention he should but was instrumental in moving forward a lot of black agenda in the south. >>host: why did you decide, joan catapano sojourners true is needed and other art of three? >> it is different from ones that was published recently added is substantial so she touches on new material that people have not treated in the past. >>host: what other books would you like to point* out? >>guest: net cafe society which is a story of the nightclub in new york city where there was a mangling of the races back when that was not done much. it is a very readable kind of book that sort of gives you a picture the time of the era and the people who frequented places like that. >>host: what is the focus of the university of illinois press? >>guest: not on the u.s. history with specialization and african-american history, labor and women history, as ethnic history in general, but securely

coverage of the "chicago tribune" printer's row book fest with discussion on the sojourner truth and it t.r. m. howard. we'll be right back. >> us for university press in 2009 has several new titles coming out, susan ferber, a senior editor with oxford. what are some of those new titles? >> how be thrilled to, we have a range of new books and i thinki will talk more about political ones that have political implications today. real enemies, i realize there's a lot of talk about a conspiracy theory and use them on the internet -- this is an author who spent time looking at what this conspiracy there remain for american democracy and how does the fact there have been conspiracy theories over a long time since world war i, what does that mean about americans and what they think about their government and do they trust government. it is a book that looks at pearl harbor, looks at fear of using government, it looks at what happened after the kennedy assassination with huge literature, on that and it comes up to 9/11, it's a wonderful read in something that i think unfortunately will never go awa