Rating: 
Summary: Good Description of the Great Expedition
Review: Ambrose does a very good job writing a detailed bio on Lewis while presenting the expedition from it infancy with an early history of the Louisiana territory and the early plans to explore and exploit the land. Lewis literally is a protégée and neighbor of Jefferson and he is virtually educated by Jefferson as his secretary and along with tutoring by scholars. Although someone free with monetary scripts, Lewis shows great organizational skills in getting the trip together and he shows modesty by wanting to co-lead with Clark for whom he attempts to gain equal rank. He fails to gain Clark the rank of captain but in spite of that, he still shares command. Ambrose describes in detail Lewis' meetings with the various tribes along the Missouri River, Rockies and Snake River who without their assistance, it is unlikely Lewis and Clark would have survived their journey. High points of the book is Lewis and Clark's interacting with the tribes particularly the Nez Perz along with the Chinooks which was quite a contrast and of course the Plains Indians such as the Sioux, Mandans, Hidatsa and the Arikarees. Quite a story about their crossing of the Rockies which took them by surprise and this is the literal high point of the book along with the suffering in their west coast camps that were dominated by boredom and limited game. The plains are described as a paradise for food. Lewis' ability to examine and write about minerals, botany, zoology and the geography is quite astounding for a layman along with his ability to administer wounds and act as a pharmacist with good results. The interesting low points of the expedition is Lewis' failure to get a portable iron frame boat to float and his naive venture to meet the fierce Blackfeet tribe with only four men that rightly would have ended his return trip if he met a sizable party. Also facinating is that Lewis never seems to recover from the expedition as he is appointed governor of the Louisiana territory, which seems to be too much responsibility along with his inability to write the book that Jefferson and the public expected. At the end he is overwhelmed and after 400 pages Ambrose describes his suicide in a reasonably detailed manner. With so many concerned about his mental health, it's amazing that Lewis was allowed to travel without a significant escort always at his side. The low point of the book is the return trip where Lewis and Clark split up for several 100 miles taking different routes before rejoining, little is written of Clark's journey along the Yellowstone where he splits his group into horse handlers and those in canoes. Although never mentioned in the book, Clark's horse handlers led by Sergeant Pryor encounter Crow Indians who steal their horses. Pryor and three men attempt to over take the Crows for 10 miles in unknown territory finally giving up and floating themselves down river in fresh buffalo hides stretched over tree branches called Bull boats. They have a frightening encounter with Grizzly bears who think the smelly buffalo hides coming down river to them are dead buffalo that they were accustomed to seeing floating down river for easy pickings. Clark's discovery of the huge limestock rock natural monument which he named Pompey's Pilar after Sacagawea's son is also never mentioned.Clark is portrayed as the ultimate military man and as a great woodsman which makes him invaluable. More detailed on Clark's post expedition life would have been interesting. His ability to balance Lewis was huge for the expedition to succeed. Sacagewea is very prominent the expedition's success in communicating with the Rocky Mountain tribes and her knowledge of the country. Her role in translation is responsible for a lot of the expedition's peaceful dealings with the mountain tribes. Regretfully not much is known of her life after the expedition. This is a great introduction book that is worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Good, not great.
Review: This is a nicely told narrative of the journey of Lewis & Clark, including both the preparations prior to their departure and their lives after they returned from the Pacific. It is lengthy, trying to blend the adventure with the politics and the economics, and in places it gets quite speculative, such as when it attempts to surmise the cause of Lewis's untimely death (I'm trying not to give anything away here).
Anyway, as with all of Ambrose's work, it is what I think of as "workmanlike", always using a simple literary style that makes no pretensions intellectually. In point of fact, the author is a great story teller, and if you ever avail yourself of audiobooks (or 'books on tape'), his works lend themselves perfectly to that format.
Rating: 
Summary: Tedious Journey Made Fascinating
Review: Quite simply, this is the best book I have ever read. Ambrose does well to explore the psyche of the elusive mind of Meriwether Lewis. He outlines the political implications of the expedition, both for its utility in searching for the non-existent all-water route to the Pacific, as well as Lewis's cool dealings with the previously unknown tribes of the northwest. Lewis's journals and logs are a true American treasure that Ambrose translates into a masterpiece of storytelling.
Rating:
Summary: fascinating book
Review: I've always wanted to learn more about the Lewis & Clark expedition, and wading through the bad spelling and grammar of the journals was often difficult and time-consuming. So I read this book instead. What a treat. It's complete and comprehensive in it's coverage of the events and cirumstances that led to the expedition and also of the events following the return of the Corps of Discovery. I learned many interesting facts and anecdotes about the expedition that I'd never heard before. It took me a little while to get through this book, and it got a little dry in a few spots. But it's definitely worth reading and pushing through to the end. You will learn a lot.
Rating:
Summary: THE Lewis & Clark Primer
Review: I was first aware of this book nearly 18 months before it was published. I saw Stephen Ambrose on C-SPAN's "Booknotes" with Brian Lamb, promoting his "D-Day" book (yes, I've read that one too). Lamb asked what his next book was going to be, and Ambrose didn't hold back and said that he was working on a biography of Meriwether Lewis. "Oh, wait'll you read my Meriwether Lewis book," he said. I hardly knew of the L&C expedition, but his hook worked. I knew that I was going to read it when it came out. When it did come out, I grabbed a first edition. And if you care to know, this was the first Ambrose book I ever read. I don't profess to know much about the great expedition, but this book was a genuine eye opener. I learned so much about the expedition, Lewis and Clark, Thomas Jefferson, I devoured it in a few days' time. If you're like me and don't know much about the subject, this is the book for you. You'll come away not only informed, but entertained as well. I personally believe that this is Ambrose's last great work. His other books published afterwards were good, but they weren't as sharp or, as Michael Beschloss said on the jacket blurb, as "lyrical" as this. Will someone PLEASE make a movie of this? It demands it!
Rating:
Summary: A True Adventure Story and A Study in Leadership
Review: I found this an excellent book that transported me back in time to the days of the Louisiana Purchase. For me, such an experience is the definition of a good history book. The subject, as anyone who reads the introduction will see, is one that is dear to Ambrose. His intimate knowledge of the subject comes through in what is a thoroughly gripping narrative. Ambrose clearly admires Meriwether Lewis, but his writing is fair and impartial as he delves into the trials and triumphs of the expedition as a whole, and Lewis personally. The story begins at the beginning, well before the voyage of discovery begins, by establishing the relationship between Lewis and Thomas Jefferson that will ultimately result in Lewis being given command of the expedition. Clark's role is not ignored, and Ambrose repeatedly points out that Lewis viewed Clark as a co-leader, although the government at the time recognized him only as Lewis's lieutenant. But, as the title suggests, the book focuses on Lewis, the great project's leader, and his sponsor Jefferson. Lewis's tragic decline and eventual suicide ends the book and serves as a sad counterpoint for his great and yes, courageous, leadership during the expedition. Altogether the book offers a fascinating read for anyone interested in the story of Lewis and Clark, or students of Thomas Jefferson looking for additional perspective into the events that shaped his presidency.
Rating: 
Summary: A dissenting opinion.
Review: Perhaps because of the avalanche of praise bestowed on this book, I was rather disappointed when I read it. A credit to Ambrose that his book is rarely dull, but his is far from a comprehensive study. Perhaps it would have been more accurately sold as a biography of Meriwether Lewis, whom Ambrose is almost embaresingly enamoured with. For a first read on Lewis & Clark this is not a bad place to start, but critical information on some very important people is lacking. We never learn about the ultimate fate of York, Clark's slave, who was critical to the survival of the expedition but was brutalized by his master on returning East. Sacagawea is also abandoned after the journey. Even Clark is given scant attention considering his role. in other areas, critical scholarship is lacking. It is also the opion that Lewis commited suicide and was not murdered but Ambrose gives short shift to those who claim otherwise. Why did a point-blank shot to the head and subsequent wounds fail to kill Lewis for several hours? Ignored is the well known evidence that Grinder family spent some of Lewis' money over the years after his death. Now, it is most likely given his mental state and previous attempt that Lewis did kill himself but Ambrose rumbles past any forensic or psychological investigation in 3 pages, instead wondering if Lewis made a mental role call of his companions or dreamt of the Dakota prarie. The mental state of Lewis is described merely as "meleancholy" several times and later theories of his substance abuse patterns or homosexuality are not addressed. In other areas, Ambrose is far too eager to give credit to Lewis & Clark for being "the first" to do everything but start a fire. Numerous trappers and explorers dating back to LaSalle had been in many of the areas or even used the same routes. On page 311 Ambrose even credits a brief debate on where to proceed as "The first vote ever held in the Pacific Northwest...the first time in American History a black man had voted, the first time a woman had voted". Needless to say York and Sacagawea were not made formal partners or granted any rights to speak of, and many Native American societies could take issue with that being the "first vote' or even first vote by a woman' I apologize if this if overly harsh. This is a solid, readable account but not the all-encompassing masterpiece most reviews here regard it as.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating history
Review: Stephen Ambrose does a fine job in this history of the classic Lewis and Clark expedition. Born of Thomas Jefferson's insatiable curiousity about the world and prophetic vision of the U.S. as a vast and powerful country, Lewis and Clark set out to head upriver on the Missouri and find the Northwest Passage, a dream of explorers for generations. Ambrose details the outfitting of the expedition, the assembling of the team, and key to his success, the recruiting of Clark, a man he did not know all that well. We follow the group up the river and into an area few Americans knew. The many maps are essential here--one can only appreciate the rigors of this trip when you realize how far north the river flows, almost as far as today's border with Canada. Traveling season was short and winter camps located in harsh, cold country. The accounts of Lewis' encounters with the Indians are especially interesting and amusing, great examples of how Americans patronized and underestimated the intelligence of these "savages."
This expedition would have been successful enough if the only object was to reach the west coast. But Jefferson charged Lewis and Clark with forming alliances with the Indians, cataloguing the flora and fauna, and mapping the entire vast region. Although of course the Northwest Passage didn't exist, the scope of what the team did was enormous, and we know so much about it today because of the voluminous journals that were kept.
The end of the story is quite sad, however. Publishing the journals proved difficult, and Lewis' life deteriorated after a burst of fame on his return, for reasons not entirely clear. But he accomplished something under conditions that would be unthinkable today, and Ambrose ably conveys the challenges and hardship of this great adventure.
Rating:
Summary: Ambrose REALLY likes Lewis and Jefferson!!
Review: Stephen Ambrose REALLY likes Meriwether Lewis and Thomas Jefferson. He positively gushes adoration when speaking of these two figures of American expansionism. Roughly, UNDAUNTED COURAGE is the story of how Jefferson and Lewis put their heads together to form an expedition of men to forge through the wilderness of what is now the northwestern United States in order to try to find an all-water passage to the Pacific ocean, and how the resulting exploration succeeded in some ways, but failed in others. At 480+ pages, the book is just long enough to give you the feel of the whole account, with plenty of excerpts from Lewis' and Jefferson's writings, but left me wanting to read more of the details. Where can I get a copy of Thwaite's edition of the Lewis & Clark journals? :o) I recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of the United States in the early 1800's. It is easily readable for high school level and up.
Rating:
Summary: The great western exploration told as only Ambrose can
Review: Undaunted Courage is a must read or listen for anyone interested in exploration and history. As Ambrose highlights, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark made a remearkable journey up the Missouri River to find a "direct and practical" passage to the Pacific ocean and the western part of America. It is clear Ambrose has a true understanding of what Lewis and Clark must have experienced during thier two and one hlaf year journey. Doctor, outdoorsman, taxidermist, writer and diplomat, Lewis comes to life in this remarkable journey that Ambrose tells us in Undaunted Courage. Ambrose provides the reader a great flavor for the immensly productive Lewis and Clark expedition. Not only does the pair find a route to the West, but they documented several hundred new species of plants and animals and created, if only for a short period, diplomatic relations with the various Indian tribes along the way. Undaunted Courage is a great title for this amazing trip. Ambrose gives us the post expedition difficulty Lewis goes through. For such a great master of a variety of things, it is hard to understand why Lewis is unable to get his life on track after the expedition with so many great opportunites available to him. Unfortunately, there is no insight provided as to why Lewis is unable to more readily function in the aftermath of the expedition. This was the one piece of the book that left me wondering. For a great trip up the Missouri, read this one and enjoy it.
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