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Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the
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Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West Paperback - 1997

by Stephen E. Ambrose

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From the bestselling author of "D-Day" comes the definitive book on the most momentous expedition in American history--and one of the greatest adventure stories of all time. "An adventure filled with high romance and personal tragedy, involving the greatest expedition ever undertaken in the history of this country".--Alexander Theroux, "Chicago Tribune". Illustrations throughout. Maps.

Summary

In this sweeping adventure story, Stephen E. Ambrose presents the definitive account of one of the most momentous journeys in American History. Ambrose follows the Louis and Clark expedition from Thomas Jefferson’s hope of finding a waterway to the Pacific, through the heart stopping moments of the actual trip, to Louis’s lonely demise on the Natchez Trace. Alon the way, he shows us the American West as Louis saw it--wild, awesome, and pristinely beautiful.

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From the publisher

From the New York Times bestselling author of Band of Brothers and D-Day, the definitive book on Lewis and Clark's exploration of the Louisiana Purchase, the most momentous expedition in American history and one of the great adventure stories of all time.

In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead a voyage up the Missouri River to the Rockies, over the mountains, down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean, and back. Lewis and his partner, Captain William Clark, made the first map of the trans-Mississippi West, provided invaluable scientific data on the flora and fauna of the Louisiana Purchase territory, and established the American claim to Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.

Ambrose has pieced together previously unknown information about weather, terrain, and medical knowledge at the time to provide a vivid backdrop for the expedition. Lewis is supported by a rich variety of colorful characters, first of all Jefferson himself, whose interest in exploring and acquiring the American West went back thirty years. Next comes Clark, a rugged frontiersman whose love for Lewis matched Jefferson's. There are numerous Native American chiefs, and Sacagawea, the Native American girl who accompanied the expedition, along with the French-Indian hunter Drouillard, the great naturalists of Philadelphia, the French and Spanish fur traders of St. Louis, John Quincy Adams, and many more leading political, scientific, and military figures of the turn of the century.

High adventure, high politics, suspense, drama, and diplomacy combine with high romance and personal tragedy to make this outstanding work of scholarship as readable as a novel.

First line

From the west-facing window of the room in which Meriwether Lewis was born on August 18, 1774, one could look out at Rockfish Gap, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, an opening to the West that invited exploration.

Details

  • Title Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West
  • Author Stephen E. Ambrose
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Later Printing
  • Pages 521
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Simon & Schuster, New York
  • Publication date 1997-06-02
  • Features Bibliography, Index, Maps, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780684826974 / 0684826976
  • Weight 1.3 lbs (0.59 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 in (23.11 x 15.49 x 3.05 cm)
  • Reading level 1190
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 19th Century
    • Chronological Period: 1800-1850
    • Cultural Region: Western U.S.
  • Category History - U.S.
  • Library of Congress subjects Clark, William, Lewis, Meriwether
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 95037146
  • Dewey Decimal Code 917.804

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Citations

  • New York Times, 06/08/1997, Page 32
  • NY Times Notable Bks of Year, 01/01/1997, Page 97

About the author

Stephen E. Ambrose was a renowned historian and acclaimed author of more than thirty books. Among his New York Times bestsellers are Nothing Like It In the World, Citizen Soldiers, Band of Brothers, D-Day, and Undaunted Courage. Dr. Ambrose was a retired Boyd Professor of History at the University of New Orleans and a contributing editor for the Quarterly Journal of Military History.
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Undaunted Courage : Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West
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Undaunted Courage : Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West

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