Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West Paperback – Illustrated, 2 Jun. 1997

The western half of the United States in 1800 was a vast unknown land so President Thomas Jefferson asked Meriwether Lewis to lead an expedition to find a way from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean and to describe the country and peoples that he found in that huge blank on the map.On 22 May 1804 Lewis, his partner William Clark and their expedition set out from St Louis, Missouri and after a momentous journey across the great plains and over the Rocky Mountains he camped beside the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River on 10 November 1805.Stephen Ambrose in his sweeping account of the journey of the first white Americans to cross the unknown part of the continent brings the events vividly to life and when reading his account I tried to imagine what the country was like before white Americans settled there and built their towns, cities, railways and roads. Reading the original words of Lewis's diaries can be quite difficult because of the way he uses language so Ambrose performs a valuable service for us by putting into modern language Lewis's words. Clearly this is a labour of love for Ambrose who has himself followed in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark and he tells the story of the jouirney in such a way as to make it difficult for you to put the book down once you have started reading it.It is a terrific book and I thoroughly recommend it to everyone and as someone who has seen for himself some years ago the magnificent country that the expedition crossed I think Ambrose has told the story in a way that is truly memorable and enjoyable.

This is an amazing book. You have to persevere past the first part where all the statistics are written in some detail, but it is well worth it. The expedition was a huge undertaking and it makes for a read that is hard to put down. We read it quite a few years ago, but bought it again to give to our grandson who needs to understand the phenomenal courage and the tremendous ordeals of our early adventurers.

This is a fascinating story of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Ambrose clearly loves his subject and he writes with depth and beauty on the American landscape as Lewis and Clark saw it. It is fascinating to read about this part of the United States in its untouched and pristine form and to learn about the American Indians who once populated this great American wilderness. I would have like to learn a little more about Sacagewea's role in the expedition as she is one of these famous Indian women that every American school child learns about. Her role is discussed but not elaborated on in any great deatail. And it would have been beneficial to have spent a few chapters in the beginning discussing how the Louisiana Purchase was made. The focus of this book was soley on the expedition. But is is still a great story, with triumph, and in some way, ultimately tragedy. I would definitely recommend.

I live in the US, and a British citizen is joining several of us for a week-long bike tour of the Katy Trail, in Missouri. UnDaunted Courage is a well-written account of the Lewis and Clark expedition and our bike tour will follow the route of that great expedition.. Amazon UK was able to quickly ship a copy to my friend and I hear he is enjoying the book. It is one of the best history books ever written and will deepen our expedition along the Missouri river.

A fascinating, lucid account of an extraordinary journey. Lots of interesting background history of post independence US. A classic read by an acclaimed writer.Bought used copy in fair condition. Arrived promptly and was as described. A good buy.

I'd enjoyed reading this book myself, so I decided to give it to a friend. I know it was greatly enjoyed and read very thoroughly with attention to the maps and detailed descriptions included in the book. An additional book on the subject was purchased by the recipient in order to read further on the subject, a sure sign that it was a five star book!

For me this book struck the right balance between detail and narrative and I found it a good read. The author seems to have an even handed opinion of Lewis, praising him for his skills and achievements but not shying away from his faults and shortcomings.As ever in this type of book the maps are crucial and in this I thought the book did ok but not great.

A wonderful tale of adventure, bravery, innovation and desire. Ambrose has all the gifts of a novelist when he writes deeply researched and convincing historical stories.

On our vacation out west last month I saw a few historical markers for Lewis and Clark. I had to admit to myself that, though I knew their names and vaguely what they'd done, I was not aware of any of the details of their expedition. I either missed that day in American History or that knowledge has left my head to make room for song lyrics (which I assume take up most of my brain's hard drive space.). So I looked on Amazon and saw that Stephen E Ambrose had written a book about them and I recognized his name so I purchased it and have been reading it since the vacation.What an epic story of an incredible journey! I learned so much, starting with Lewis' first name, Meriwether, and the fact that it was Thomas Jefferson who not only completed the Louisiana Purchase but then commissioned the expedition, mainly in hopes of finding an all water route from the east coast to the west coast (spoiler alert: those damn Rocky Mountains get in the way.) One of the things that fascinated me was how bereft Jefferson (and everyone else back east) was about how the trek was going. In our day and age where you can video chat with someone halfway around the world in real time, it's impossible to imagine a day and age when it would take two years to learn whether Lewis and Clark and their small group made it safely to the Pacific Ocean or were slaughtered along the way.The book itself was rich with details, culled mainly from Lewis and Clark's individual journals which they kept dutifully during the entire expedition. But Ambrose doesn't shy away from editorializing either. He very openly discusses all the broken promises made to the Native American tribes the expedition encountered, as well as how growing up as slaveholders influenced Jefferson, Lewis and Clark in their thinking that certain races are superior to others. That is the true dilemma of this great nation, and one that cannot be ignored when discussing something as monumental as Lewis and Clark's expedition. Did the good outweigh the bad? If history, as they say, is the story of the winners, then the answer is Yes. Could we as a nation have prospered any other way? That, we'll never know.After the expedition was complete, there were still about 80 pages left in the book. I didn't see how there could be. Other than getting their journals published, what more was there to the Lewis and Clark story? Silly me. I had no idea about Meriwether Lewis' sad and tragic ending. It actually wept a little when I read it.I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves a good adventure story, especially if you're like me and you somehow missed out on all the details of this great expedition in school. It's a true American story of bravery and exploration. And next time I'm out west I'll be sure to pull over at one of those historical markers and appreciate it a lot more.

Vividly written review about a real life adventure through wild America.

Stephen E. Ambrose è noto soprattutto per i suoi saggi sulla II Guerra Mondiale, per cui è stata per me una sorpresa imbattermi per caso in un suo testo sulla spedizione di Lewis e Clark.Cercavo un testo completo ed esauriente sull'argomento, e questo testo ha pienamente soddisfatto le mie aspettative: esso è in realtà una biografia di Meriwether Lewis ma, considerato il fatto che la spedizione costituì il più grande compimento della sua vita e la morte sopravvenuta poco dopo, si traduce per il 70% nel racconto della spedizione stessa.Il testo presenta alcune interessanti digressioni sulla figura di Thomas Jefferson (tra i padri fondatori della nazione americana ma la cui importanza è pressoché ignota al lettore italiano) e sul suo significato per la fondazione degli Stati Uniti come sono oggi.Il racconto è avvincente ed estremamente completo, scritto in un inglese semplice e con un piglio divulgativo.Ovviamente lo consiglierei a coloro che sono interessati all'argomento in sé: chi non cercasse una monografia sulla spedizione ma qualcosa di più ampio sulla Frontiera di inizio '800 rimarrebbe in parte deluso.

M. Ambrose focuses on the context of the expedition. He insists on the role of President Jefferson as the driving force behind the entreprise, on his visionary guidance and on the impact of the Corps of Discovery on Western Indian nations.All these aspects are dealt with superbly in this book, a swiftly moving, full-dress treatment of the expedition. It is essentially a biography of Meeriwether Lewis, conveyed with passionate enthusiasm by M. Ambrose, and sprinkled with the most famous and vivid passages from the traveler's journal. Great performance.

this is a great book about an important part of the history of the US, but it is more than that, it is a book on leadership because it narrates the motivations, courage and determination of a group of individuals to achieve a goal that, at the time, seemed unachiaveable.Excellent prose. I do recommend this book