All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay, from Lincoln to Roosevelt - Rilegato

“Utterly fantastic...the definitive portrait of a man whose life spanned a crucial era in American history – and whose work helped to define that era. A genius of animation works on every page. It’s the author’s best book.” (Open Letters Monthly)

“Given that John Hay’s public career was bookended by his service to Lincoln and Roosevelt, it seems surprising that this is the first biography written about him in 80 years. Thanks to Taliaferro’s skillful work, it seems unlikely that another will be needed for a while.” (The Dallas Morning News)

"John Hay has long been one of those remarkable American figures who hide in plain historical sight—until now. With insight and eloquence, John Taliaferro has brought Hay into the foreground, telling a remarkable story remarkably well." (Jon Meacham, author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power)

“John Hay began his career as private secretary to Abraham Lincoln, writing many of Lincoln's letters, and ended it as secretary of state in the administrations of William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, responsible for many of their foreign-policy achievements. He was at the bedside of Lincoln and of McKinley as each president lay dying of an assassin's bullet. John Taliaferro's absorbing biography of this notable author, diplomat, and bon vivant who knew most of the important people of his time fully measures up to the significance of its subject.” (James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom)

"John Hay is one of the seminal statesmen in American history. All the Great Prizes is the grand book he so richly deserves.” (Douglas G. Brinkley, author of Cronkite)

“One of the most intriguing political figures of the Gilded Age, Hay emerges in this beautifully narrated book as an astute, if sometimes unwilling, eyewitness to history. Making deft use of Hay’s own letters, some only recently discovered, Taliaferro brings the man to life.” (Martha A. Sandweiss, author of Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color)

“This is a great biography of a great American.” (The Washington Independent Review of Books)

“John Hay led more than one charmed life—yet endured more than his share of tragedy. John Taliaferro brings Lincoln's gifted secretary and biographer—and Theodore Roosevelt's accomplished secretary of state—back to vivid life in this page-turning account of an extraordinary eyewitness to, and maker of, American history. After generations of bewildering neglect, Hay needs a great biography no longer.” (Harold Holzer, author of Lincoln at Cooper Union)

“At long last, John Hay has gotten the biography he deserves. From his youthful service at Lincoln's side to his late years as Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of State, this gifted writer, diplomat, and friend was a central figure in America's exciting journey from near-death to world power. John Taliaferro tells this remarkable life in rich and flowing detail.” (David Von Drehle, author of Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America's Most Perilous Year)

John Taliaferro is a graduate of Harvard College, a former senior editor at Newsweek, and the author of four previous books. He lives in Austin, Texas, and Pray, Montana.