"Flags of Our Father" Author James Bradley Discusses New Book

Rye resident and bestselling author James Bradley gave a lecture at the Rye Free Reading Room Sunday afternoon. 

His latest book, The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War, details the 1905 diplomatic mission when Secretary of War William Howard Taft and company embarked across the Pacific to Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, China, and Korea, at the request of President Theodore Roosevelt. Also on board was Teddy's daughter Alice–a socialite whose reckless behavior acted as a media magnet and smokescreen for the secret negotiations of this voyage.

Bradley might best be known for Flags of Our Fathers, an account about his father and the men who raised the American flag at Iwo Jima that was also made into a movie directed by Clint Eastwood.  Speaking to a room overflowing with people, Bradley professed that Imperial Cruise began when he "wondered about the source of conflict" surrounding Pearl Harbor.  In the summer of 2005, Bradley followed in the wake of the SS Manchuria's 1905 expedition, retracing its steps and uncovering what "lit the fuse on events that we would later call World War II."

Among his discoveries, Bradley found out that Roosevelt sent Taft to Japan in order to introduce a "secret treaty" that encouraged the Japanese to expand into Korea.  However, Roosevelt did not expect that Japan would attempt to emulate America's foreign policy of expansion thirty-seven years later with the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.   

By piecing together Roosevelt's correspondence, Bradley reshapes our image of Roosevelt–the benevolent ruler and rough rider known for his adage "speak softly and carry a big stick"–into a "secret agent of the Japanese."

Among the attendees were local residents Bob Tyre–who thought Imperial Cruise presented an "interesting and different side of the truth" about Roosevelt–and Sam Carroll who also agreed that Bradley painted a "new side of Teddy."  Rye resident Ann Herron had a personal attachment to the lecture–her husband fought in World War II.  

Director of the Rye Library Kurt Hadeler praised Bradley as an author who "makes history understandable and digestible to wide audiences."

James Bradley also founded the James Bradley for Peace Foundation, which sends American high school students to live with families overseas.  He is currently working on his fourth book, tentatively entitled The China Mirage.