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Summary: Undaunted Courage : Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and
Review: Unapologetically, Ambrose reveals his personal enthusiasm for his subject in this delightful telling of the Lewis and Clark story. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Jeferson's role in the undertaking and the little told story of Lewis' end. Ambrose makes this history live! If you plan on reading his new book on the transcontinental railroad (I just started it), I highly recommend you read Undaunted Courage first as it sets the scene for the coming development of the West.
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Summary: True Courage
Review: This book deserves a highly reguarded place in the eyes of history goers. It is important that people do not overlook this journey, because if it is not looked at, one cannot understand American expansionism at its fullest. This book paints a clear picture of the American west before it was modernized. It shows a whole way of life, which is nonexistent anymore. It shows how the Indians lived before the west was tamed. It clearly paints a picture of an Indian buffalo hunt that has not been seen in over 100 years. It depicts a time when America was not a superpower and just a blossoming country that was still dealing with financial issues and tax rebellions. This book also shows a time of slavery, and where the horse is the fastest means of transportation. It successfully recreates a young and growing United States of America.
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Summary: New Birth
Review: Meriwether Lewis was a smart, brooding figure-a soldier-politician, a leader of men, healthy, clever and ambitious. Beyond that, Ambrose paints Lewis as the mysterious protégé of the genius president, Thomas Jefferson. William Clark is drawn as a "Daniel Boone" and as "the best friend a man ever had." The characters are important, but the power of "Undaunted Courage" is in the book's first-hand accounts (sometimes from the pen of Lewis, sometimes from that of Clark) of the great adventure, the incredible expedition of thirty-odd American soldiers determined to follow their leaders and determined to find the Northwest Passage. What a pity it wasn't there. But I loved the trip. I loved reading "Undaunted Courage"-the history, the adventure, the thrill, the disappointment. Review the reviews before this one and those that follow. Better than that, read the book and you will agree, but- Roughly forty years ago, I learned my history in high school and college. Since then, I picked up social studies from the networks and in the streets, but until I found the time to read "Undaunted Courage" I had forgotten what a vulgar bunch our ancestors must have been. According to Ambrose, "Jefferson wrote 'Our children see (the intemperance of their parents toward slaves) and learn to imitate it' . . . . Jefferson hoped and expected that the Virginians from the generation of Lewis and Clark would abolish slavery-even while recognizing that anyone brought up as a master of slaves would have to be a prodigy to be undepraved by the experience." What the genius president considered but failed to appreciate was that the depravation might be a vertically transmitted, communicable process. Not genetic, not infectious, but transmissible simply by exposure to the depraved. As he spoke to Native Americans along the Missouri (this from the pen of William Clark): "Children, Lexis went on, the president (is) now "your only father; he is the only friend to whom you can now look for protection, or from whom you can ask favours, or receive good counciles, and he will take care to serve you, & not deceive you." In the Deep South in the forties and fifties, sensing my confusion with racial injustice, my dad told me something that now sounds like what Jefferson seemed to be thinking. "Maybe . . . in the next generation." Two hundred years ago, agriculture depended on slavery. Fifty years ago, agriculture had been mechanized and slaves had been free for a hundred years. The depravation remained. Since my dad said "maybe", much of the old corruption has been displaced by different kinds of madness-assassinations, wars that everyone lost, mass murder in Oklahoma City and something horrible called the generation gap. Hmm. In every case, some group (parent, militia or the State of Virginia) had chosen to oppress. Has this nation experienced a "new birth of freedom?" I think so, but not through defeat of the oppressor. If freedom has dawned, it is because the oppressed have simply stopped empowering the depraved.
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Summary: Tag Along on a Magnificent Journey...
Review: A remarkable chronicle of Lewis & Clark's difficult journey through the heartland in the early 1800's. Largely sourced in the extremely detailed journal kept by Captain Lewis, we are provided detailed accounts of Indians, terrain, animals, plants, and other things that arose throughout the journey. This work gives the reader an excellent feel for how difficult frontier life was at the time. Also makes you appreciate what a wonderful "skill set" Lewis possessed: as an amateur botanist, naturalist, linguist, diplomat and so forth. This book is a must read for those who have an interest in early American history...
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Summary: Excellent, Well Researched and Engaging History!
Review: "Undaunted Courage" provides an illuminating look into the expedition that resulted in the manifest destiny of the United States. I found this book to be well-researched, rich in detail, yet highly readable. In addition to an engrossing account of the expedition, the book examines the character of both Meriweather Lewis and his partner with a far more objective eye than that of the basic American History texts when I was in school. Both Lewis and Clark are shown as men of courage and vision, yet are not idealized as so many accounts have done. The book also provides insight into how men of the late 18th-early 19th century handle phenomenal success at an early age. The book is written primarily as a biography of Meriweather Lewis although Mr. Clark is also given the author's usual treatment. I particularly appreciated the author's examination of Lewis (in particular) and his life AFTER the Corps of Discovery expedition. For someone so young to achieve such greatness was both a blessing and a curse. Lewis was widely regarded as a man of great achievment and achieved a status not unlike today's "celebrity." How he handled such celebrity, which may have driven him to an early demise, is quite interesting. The expedition was a miraculous achievement in any day. It changed forever the course of American history and was the impetus for the westward migration of the entire 19th century. Once again, Mr. Ambrose shows his mastery of the writer's craft, presenting history in a thoroughly entertaining manner. Lewis and Clark, Sacajawea (please forgive any errors in spelling)and the others come alive as genuine human beings, persons of strengths and weaknesses, but always of interest. This book is yet another example of the fine historical writing of which he has repeatedly demonstrated.
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Summary: Lively and Entertaining Depiction of the Expedition
Review: Stephen Ambrose obviously had a warm place in his heart for the Lewis and Clark expedition - he tells in the Introduction of his decision to celebrate the nation's bicentennial in July 1976 at Lemhi Pass in Montana, where Lewis was the first American to cross the Continental Divide. His wonder at the accomplishments of Lewis & Clark, and his genuine love for the American West they first explored, make this book a very readable labor of love. It is difficult to imagine in today's time the obstacles faced by the expedition, and to do judtice to the ingenuity of the expedition in their successful voyage to and from the Pacific. Thomas Jefferson had no idea what the explorers would find as they travelled up the Missouri River, seeking a waterway to the Pacific, as he apparently thought they might come across prehistoric creatures like the mastodon. They were equipped with a large supply of Dr. Benjamin Rush's "thunderclappers", pills made of mercury, chlorine and jalap that operated as "an explosive purgative" which were dispensed by the men for almost any ailment. When that didn't work they applied a "poultice". Yet, somehow, almost all of them made it! Through hostile Native American territories, with little to offer but beads and useless ornamental goods, the expedition peacefully co-existed with tribe after tribe, while painstakingly noting new species of fauna and flora never before noted by Americans. They hunted and fished for their food, and adapted to every new circumstance despite sometimes overwhelming obstacles. They were also wise enough to recognize good fortune when it dropped Sacagawea into their laps, as the Indian woman (and wife of trapper Charbonneau) probably single-handedly kept them on peaceful terms with numerous tribes with her translating skills, and her apparent peaceful nature. Tribes assumed they came in peace when they saw her. The book takes great pains to praise the leadership style of the men, and Lewis' apparent willingness to truly share his command with Clark even though Lewis was named by President Jefferson first, and then suggested his colleague Clark as a true "co-commander". Some of the detail early in the book as to the expedition's supply needs, and their meticulous preparation for the lengthy voyage, were a little taxing to the patience of the reader but once the Corps of Discovery left St. Louis and began their remarkable voyage, the narrative picked up considerably. Ambrose borrows heavily from Lewis's journal, sometimes providing illustrations showing Lewis' narrative and sketches of the new species they were observing for the first time. In particular, the end of the road for Lewis was poignant and unforgettable. Americans should be more aware of the remarkable accomplishments of the Corps, and this book is an excellent starting point.
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Summary: You've Never Been This Excitied About A Book ...
Review: I don't read history. Public schools cured me of that. But there was so much hoopla about this book when it came out, and there seemed to be such a high adventure factor involved, I bought it and read it. It is wonderful. A real page turner. I couldn't wait to get back to it when I put it down to work or sleep. So many amazing things. And they're all true.
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Summary: I must follow in thier footsteps
Review: After reading this superb book, I have deicided i must retrace at least a part of thier epic journey in order to see some of the same sights these gentleman saw. If anyone decides to follow this trip, then this is the book to use as a guide . I cant say enough good things about this book well done Mr Ambrose
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Summary: A Wonderful Journey
Review: From the very beginning, it is clear that Stephen Ambrose is very fond of this subject. After reading the mandatory introduction, you will immediately be brought back in history to another time. Join Stephen Ambrose as he takes you on a journey of filled with friendship and murder, peace and politics, and study and wonder. Ambrose takes an approach rarely seen in historical examinations of this sort. He wonders aloud. "What must they have said that night...", "...wouldn't it have been wonderful to be there with them...", "what must have he thought as he looked up to the stars". Ambrose makes you care and wonder about the subject, because he cares and wonders about the subject. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is entertaining, informative, funny and tragic.
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Summary: America¿s greatest adventure story brilliantly told
Review: "Undaunted Courage" is historian Stephen E. Ambrose's masterfully told and compelling account of The Lewis and Clark expedition, one of the most historically significant journeys of exploration in American history. Relying extensively on the Journals of Lewis and Clark, Ambrose has put together a highly entertaining, meticulously researched, wonderfully readable, and fast paced narrative that interweaves a fascinating biography of Meriwether Lewis with a spellbinding account of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Ambrose captures completely with his fast-paced narrative the key events of the Lewis and Clark expedition. With a keen eye for detail, he describes the formation of the Corps of Discovery; its ascent to the headwaters of the Missouri River and its many encounters with native tribes along the way; the crossing of the "Great Portage," the Continental Divide, and the Rocky Nountains; and its encampment in November 1805 on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, at the mouth of the Columbia River. Also described is the expedition's return voyage, when the expedition once again searched in vain for a water route to the Pacific, and also when the expedition had its one and only hostile engagement with natives. Finally, Ambrose describes the aftermath of the expedition - how the Journals of Lewis and Clark came to be published, and the divergent (and, for Lewis, ultimately tragic) careers of these two great explorers. I found Ambrose's portraits of the key players in this real-life drama to be superb! Lewis is a born naturalist with a keen eye for scientific observation. He's also a gifted leader of men, ever conscious of his subordinates' welfare, and always gaining from them loyalty that is complete and willingly given. Clark, the "co-captain" (in reality the second in command), is a less gifted scientist, but equal to Lewis in leadership ability, and in many ways a more talented explorer and map maker. Jefferson, perhaps America's greatest genius of the Age of Enlightenment, is the man possessed with the vision to see that the voyage is undertaken. Sacagawea, the teenage Shoshone girl, kidnapped from her tribe, sold to Canadian traders, and the mother of a newborn son, is possessed with remarkable stoicism and diplomatic skills which become essential to the Corps of Discovery's survival. In addition, Ambrose proves himself to be a first-rate nature writer himself, with his breathtaking descriptions of the flora, fauna, and physical beauty of the American Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, and Pacific Northwest. "Undaunted Courage" is America's great adventure story, told by one of this nation's foremost contemporary historians and biographers. Highly recommended!
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