Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book that will always be remembered, 10 Nov 2003
"Undaunted Courage," by the great American author Stephen E. Ambrose is a book that will always be remembered. I found the up close look at Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and William Clark priceless. However, the backbone of this well-researched and superbly written book is the tale of brave men exploring an unknown frontier and only losing one member of the party.Moreover, Ambrose documents the "essential honesty" that distinguished Lewis and Clark from other explorers like Hernando DeSoto and Francisco Pizarro who were looking for gold or wanted to convert Indians to Christianity. Ambrose also does an excellent job of informing the reader the sad truth of American Indian Policy which at the time of the expedition was, "get out of the way or get killed." Nevertheless, this truly special book examines Jefferson, the "empire builder,"...Lewis, the fellow Virginian with a rich family history and a passion for exploration and Clark, the professional soldier and pragmatic friend who provided valuable leadership during key moments of the trip. Lewis, Jefferson and Clark helped the United States become a continental power stretching from sea to sea. Ultimately, the news of Lewis and Clark's return and the subsequent published journals triggered a rush for the mountains across the nation. This is a wonderful book...because the partnership of Lewis and Clark is arguably the most famous in American history. Highly recommended. Bert Ruiz
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An important journey of discovery, 15 Mar 2007
I bought this book mainly because I have all of Stephen Ambrose's books and like his style of writing, commonly with passion and normally very informative. This is the case with Undaunted Courage and I think it is one of his best books.
After purchasing quite a large 'plot' of land from Napoleon in 1803 through the Louisiana Purchase i.e. about a third of the USA for $15,000,000 (not a bad deal!), Thomas Jefferson commissions an expedition to chart a new trail to the Pacific coast and to explore this newly purchased territory. No mean feat as it takes the expeditionary team eighteen months to complete this mammoth undertaking as the land encompasses most of the western half of the USA.
There are epic river journeys up the Mississippi & Missouri rivers, a gruelling traverse of the Rockies and then the finale of the hair raising decent of the Columbus river until eventually these pioneers reach the Pacific...and then they come all the way back! There are Indians, grizzly bears, treacherous trails, white knuckle river rides and a host of other dangers along the way...truly an amazing journey!
This however is not just a story of a journey by a team out to chart and explore hitherto previously unknown territory. This is also a scientific journey of discovery of great importance. In this aspect, according to the author, it ranks alongside Darwin and Cook's in importance. The scientific collection and documentation involved is vast but is explained very well in the book.
Reading about this great journey was enthralling for me as it gave me an education into how the USA expanded into a two ocean country and henceforth into a superpower. This is a book really about the second birth of America, the first belongs to the Pilgrim Fathers....there is a third birth too and that belongs to the 1846 war with Mexico when the USA acquires another large 'plot' of land including California from the Mexicans but that is another story.
In summation this is a book that really gives you an insight into how America was really pioneered and explored, more so it explains the hardships, tragedies and tribulations involved by those that did it....a great historic read.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Difficult but interesting read, 12 Jun 2006
I bought this book because I realised that while at school in the UK I was actually taught nothing about how America went from being discovered to become a giant from Atlantic to Pacific.
My entire schooling on this subject could be fitted into one paragraph: 'America was found... some people settled there... they rebelled against English (Boston Tea Party)... Revolution... civil war... giant country'. Everything else I picked up from travelling, TV, books, films etc. And I had to start filling in the blanks.
So I opened this book interested in what happened to expand the US between the Revolution and the Civil war (which too often is taught as one event in the UK making it hard to understand). The book basically follows Captain Meriweather Lewis, a Virginian gent, who was friends with then president Jefferson. It chronicles Lewis's upbringing and education, as well as Jeffersons desire to expand the States without bloodshed. An expedition is long muted, to travel from the east up the Missouri, through Indian country (making friends on the way) and hopefully find an all water route to the Pacific.
Essentially the book breaks down into four parts; 1 the introduction and build up to leaving, 2 the outward journey, 3 the return leg, 4 what happened afterwards.
The first and final parts are exceptionally difficult to read, much of the text is quotations from letters, and it isnt the easiest to read. Written English from 1800s had no formal spelling, and is often extremely wordy and convoluted.
However, please try to work through the start and get to the actual journey. This is fantastic, it really shows insite into how Lewis and partner Clark felt, what they saw, experienced, feared etc. A superb story, and an amazing one at that. I was facinated, and didnt want to put the book down. I always wanted to see what was around the next bend in the river, whether the next nation of Indians would welcome them, whether all would survive.
Apart from difficulty with some of the language (might be helpful having a thesaurus and or dictionary handy), the one thing which really spoilt this was the lack of information after the expedition. It is more focused on the downfall of Lewis and the fate of his journals.
It would be brilliant to have another chapter giving brief details of the American - Indian relations in the following ten-fifteen years, and whether any of Lewis's suggestions and policies on the subject ever came into play or ever worked.
Otherwise, a very interesting book from Mr Ambrose to add to Band of Brothers as a most memorable read from him.
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