Rating: 
Summary: I don't give 10's but I gotta make an exception
Review: Predominately a reader of fiction I found this book more spectacular than any adventure novel.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful description of a REAL adventure
Review: I loved this book. I had never known much about Lewis and Clark other than the obvious that one learns in high school. This great tale let me live the thrilling things that befell the Corps of Discovery in ways that made it come alive. The only negative was a longish start before the actual adventure but that is only a minor complaint.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular retelling of a pivotal event in American history
Review: Stephen E. Ambrose scores again! Not simply a retelling of the adventures of Lewis and Clark. Ambrose tells the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition in its broad historical context and the principal protagonists - Thos. Jefferson, Merriwether Lewis, & William Clark - emerge as truly human figures; heroic, yes, but not without very human frailties. A fascinating read!
Rating:
Summary: Rich with excitement and information
Review: This book rekindled my interest in the Lewis and Clark Exhibition. Ambrose brings the adventure alive with detailed information on the group's day to day struggles, dangers and discoveries. An excellent book that forces you to appreciate not just Lewis and Clark, but all Americans who took great risks to allow us to live as we do.
Rating:
Summary: What About Clark?
Review: Re: Book length. The idea that more is more doesn't hold up well for me. We don't really need to know what "Ed" ate for breakfast on Tuesday the 19th, unless it killed him. That said, I wish this book had been a bit longer, in the body or in an appendix. I know what the title says, but more detail on Clark's eastward trek after splitting with Lewis would have been appreciated. Hence, the 9.
Rating:
Summary: Humanistic chronicle of the epochal Lewis & Clark Expedition
Review: "Undaunted Courage" covers events of the late 18th and early 19th centuries that preclude and culminated in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Included are the backgrounds of the expedition's leaders, and the tragic epilogue to the adventure for Meriwether Lewis. The group of exceptional people that participated in the expedition was referred to as the "Corps of Discovery" by Captain Meriwether Lewis. The newly formed and expanding United States of America were in an economic, political and cultural competition for control of the rich resources west of the Mississippi river. President Thomas Jefferson who had purchased the Louisiana territory in order to secure the nation's place in that competition, did so without actually knowing for sure its potential, since no one had been there to evaluate or map it. Jefferson needed someone to find out what it was he purchased from the French. He searched for and found in Meriwether Lewis a singular human being who proved to have the desire and capability to organize and implement one of the greatest explorations of all times. The exploration originated in the nation's capitol, began its penetration of wilderness at St. Louis on the Mississippi river, traversed the entire Missouri and Columbia rivers to the pacific coast and returned again to the Mississippi river, all in a 3 year span of time. In his book Steven Ambrose has undertaken the extensive task of compiling and chronicling the birth and execution of the Corps' incredible journey across the early 19th century American western wilderness. These compilations and interpretations probe beyond pure historic fact to explore the character and personalities of the expeditions proponents, participants and critics. Accomplishments of the Corps and the expeditions epilogue are worth the time it takes to read them as they give a more human, intimate meaning to the formation of our country and the character of its leaders. Stories of encounters with inhabitants of the territory, both human and animal are well presented; descriptions of the landscape, living conditions and hazards endured satisfy the most discerning reader's interest. Discussed are the expeditions goals which were to find if a waterway across the continent to the Pacific ocean existed that would open up global commerce; inventory the resources of the territory; open a dialog with native inhabitants of the area and persuade them that resistance was futile. Numerous other benefits would accrue to the U.S. as may be uncovered by reading this wordy but interesting volume. Probably due to the extensive amount of material covered and its length, this book may be for some a labor to read. However, a minimum of curiosity and discipline will provide the reader with insight not usually available from purely historical writings. It was not written as a novel, but if the reader will use a creative imagination and allow freedom of emotion during the reading, the expedition can become a real thriller. Stephen Ambrose, in much the manner of Captain Lewis, undertook the task of compiling the explorer's adventures and set them to print in this book, not a work of art, but a work of admiration.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary compilation of historical facts
Review: We tend to search out historical perspectives on events and subjects that we perceive to be of larger impact to American culture and acheivement. After reading Ambrose's work, I have settled on the opinion that the impact of the mission of the Corps of Discovery is one of the top 3 acheivements in American History; the others, winning our independence from England and the Civil War. I feel satisfied that Ambrose has used every possible historical account available to paint an accurate portrait of the adventure. The author has pursuaded me, as a student of American History, to apply myself in gaining a greater understanding of this event and its impact.
Rating:
Summary: A great tale of a vast continent.
Review: It is difficult to put one's mind into an era when great expanses of the West were blank on the map and a cross- continent waterway was still a dream.. Ambrose takes you from the geopolitical vison of Thomas Jefferson to the reality of exploring great expanses of territory unkown to the new Americans, but home to many tribes who offered the hand of friendship to the explorers. The narriative flows like a river through this tale of vision and courage.
Rating:
Summary: Read Undaunted Courage with the journals at hand.
Review: I read Undaunted Courage in the summer of 1996 while I was on a backpacking trip in Montana near where the Corps of Discovery traveled. When I got back I checked out of the library the two one-volume editions of the journals--the ones by Bernard DeVoto and by John Bakeless. Either of them would have been great to have while I was reading Ambrose's book. If you haven't read Undaunted Courage yet, do it with a copy of the journals at hand.
Rating:
Summary: What an adventure story
Review: I picked up this book because it was an adventure story not because it is an historical account. It scores a 10 on both adventure and history. If this book were in the classroom it would make history come alive. I am loving every page of this book and want to find more books like this on other historical events. My only question is "What about Sacagawea?" I didn't get the impression from the author that she was as important to the expedition as I had been taught. When they first meet the Shoshones Lewis didn't even take her along.
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