Customer Reviews

Frontier Living: An Illustrated Guide to Pioneer Life in America

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The subtitle says it all: "An Illustrated Guide to Pioneer Life in America, Including Log Cabins, Furniture, Tools, Clothing, and More." From about 1725 to the closing of the frontier, Tunis examines dozens of aspects of American frontier life in this sequel to his "Colonial Living," and even touches on history (the little-known Black Hawk War, the Santa Fe trade, etc.). His clear, detailed pen-and-ink sketches provide a perfect visual accompaniment to written commentary. (Check out the household articles on pp. 24-5, the tub mill on p. 40, the spinning wheels and loom on pp. 46-8, and--my favorite--the elementary prairie well-drilling rig on p. 157, to take just a few examples.) As is often the case with juvenile social histories, he manages to touch on things you don't learn in books written for an adult audience, so the volume should be useful to researchers of every age. My one complaint is the positioning of the page numbers, which are buried in the crack of the binding! This is a book I was delighted to add to my collection, and I recommend it to everyone who has an interest in pre-1900 America.

In "Frontier Living", Edwin Tunis follows out country's century long westward expansion from the Eastern Seaboard, over the Appalachian Mountains, into the Midwest and South and finally across the Missisippi River to the West Coast. Tunis' focus is not on dates and famous leaders but on the lives of ordinary pioneers. What makes this book so special are Edward Tunis' msterful pen and ink illustrations. He was one of the master illustrators of the Twentieth Century. Tunis' drawings of such ingenious things as flutter-wheel sawmills, bullboats and tree stump pulling equipment are absolutely fascinating. For those who love books that focus on material culture, be sure to check out eh works of Eric Sloane, another master illustrator. Highly recommended.

The art work is beautiful, but as an overview of history this book falls short. There are no sources cited and some of the "facts" are less than factual. I am surpirised it got a Newbery Honor award.

Enjoyable and informational from front to back. The illustrations are excellent - as are ALL of his books. It doesn't matter what page you read -- it will be interesting. Guaranteed.

I enjoyed reading this very much. I enjoyed the illustrations as much as the prose. The importance of wood, rivers, and tools jumps off the page for me. It was a bit surprising to me how precious metal was for the pioneer. Making anything, hunting anything was extremely tedious without metal tools. It was pretty tedious even with tools.

I'd buy it again even if the binding lost a few pages again (like mine did).

For those of us of all age groups who need illustrations to better understand unfamiliar items or tasks relating to frontier living from the Sixteenth through the Eighteenth centuries, "Frontier Living" by Edwin Tunis is a must have book. Similar titles also by Edwin Tunis, such as "Colonial Living" and "Colonial Craftsmen," are well written, organized, and full of very detailed illustrations. Highly recommended reading for all age groups.

Frontier Living illuminates all aspects of daily life on the American frontier, from the log cabin to the ranchero. Black and white illustrations by the author provide embellishments to text which describe frontier daily life; from tools and clothing to food. A recommended pick for students of early American frontier days.