Customer Reviews

Lewis & Clark For Dummies

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

When I bought this book I was looking for a book to fill in the blanks while reading Lewis and Clark's journals. Where they went, what's there today, what happened afterwards, etc. This book is that. But to get this information you have to read one of the most scathing biased views of the journy that exists. This book is a commentary where the authors push their opinion that Lewis and Clark where a pair of arrogant (their words)and bumbling idiots. If you are looking for an un-biased history - don't waste your time with this book. If you want a very liberal and negative view of Lewis and Clark's journey then this is your book. You are not left to view the facts and make your own opinion, the authors make it for you. Over and over again. I actually felt like throwing the book accross the room a couple of times. (one example is they terrorized and frightened a prarie dog by capturing it and sending it back to the President Jefferson) Very seldom is anything positive even written about the pair and their disdain for Lewis is apparant. To be fair the book does a good job of locating events, people, and places where things happened. Just expect a scathing review of one of the greatest events in american history.

Having read a number of books about Lewis and Clark and their amazing expedition including "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose I was amused to find this book for dummies at the book store. It seems that there is a dummies book for everything, but I never expected one on Lewis and Clark. I purchased the book, took it home with me, and started reading. It is really interesting and enjoyable; an easy, fun read. I have gleamed additional tibbits of information about them, others in the Corps of Discovery, Indians, geography, etc., that I did not know. This book would serve as a very book starting point for anyone interested in the early history of our country as well as Lewis and Clark Expedition aficionados. I gave this book five stars and a special thanks to the publishers.

Lewis and Clark for Dummies succeeds in providing a sense of reality to the romanticized version of the Lewis and Clark story. This book demands that we understand that there is an essential perspective that has been missing from the historical record and the truth is not complete without it. The perspective of the American Indian and the role that their cultures and civilizations played are only known through the limited interpretation of Lewis and Clark and their own language and culture. This recognition is remarkable because it makes everyone human and highlights the limitations that come from one point of view. Unfortunately, Sakakawea and York were not able to provide their own personal reflections. 200 years is not a long time. There are still many stories remembered by tribal elders that could add volumes and provide a new understanding of the world that Lewis and Clark visited. This book reminds us that there is still much to be known and that there is more than one side to a version of history. It is refreshing to read an objective overview of the Lewis and Clark story rather than another reinterpretation of the Lewis and Clark perspective.

Another PC treatise which makes no effort to disguise its PC agenda. Unless the reader already has a fairly well-developed BS detector it may be more difficult to divine the truth than it was was for the explorers to locate the Pacific ocean. Like all books of this ilk there are the little icons which can be helpful. Perhaps a good editor could employ a little outhouse to warn the reader of these frequest, distracting and irritating diatribes. However if you can smell, uh, spot them and enjoy the simplicity of these style of books it may be worth your while to persevere. I'm frankly disappointed and will be looking for another single volume to recommend in the future.

Absolutely pathetic diatribe of salivating political correctness over truth. As a history teacher specializing in the US prior to 1877, I thought that this might be a good resource for 8th grade US history students. I was miserably mistaken after having read only 30 pages of this drivel. The two women propagandists show absolutely no regard or knowledge of the mores of the early 1800s. Without going into detail, the below reviewers had already stated what the book is full of in vast detail. Please read their reviews. I highly recommend avoiding this book as anyone with an iota of knowledge about early America or American Indians in the early 1800s will find these distortions and disingenuous nature highly offensive.

This was an interesting read. The authors were obviously not fans of the Corps of Discovery. The Corps seemed to bumble their way to the pacific, wreaking havoc to the environment and the Native population. They were even criticized for NOT having sex with the wife of a tribal leader.Jeez! This book is the far,far,left view of the event.

This book is written with an obvious anti Lewis & Clark bias. These men are consistantly criticised for being arrogrant, guilty of making snap judgements, and for being incompetent. However, the Native Americans can do no wrong. Any questionable activity is either ignored or justified because it is a native cultural practice and apparently then something beyond question.This same consideration is not bestowed upon the men of the expedition.

I'm a big fan of the Lewis & Clark expedition, and I loved every page of this book. Not just a dry recitation of facts or a repetition of the journals, which anyone can read, this book provides context and takes the events of 200 years ago into the present day. Why does the Lewis & Clark expedition matter? You'll find out here, and enjoy following the Lewis & Clark trail all the more.

It may have taken 200 years, but finally comes some perspective on Lewis and Clark.

What a welcome and accessible contribution to the body of scholarship on Lewis and Clark, perhaps (after Thomas Jefferson himself) the most enigmatic men of their age. And from such an unexpected quarter. This volume raises the "Dummies" series to a new level of sophistication.

The authors present Lewis and Clark as what they must have been -extraordinary men of some considerable genius who in many ways were handicapped --even crippled-- by the prejudices of their age, but who time and again rose so far above and beyond those same intellectual cages that we moderns can do nothing more than gape in wonder.

If you're uncomfortable with history that isn't sanitized and stylized, there are several Lewis and Clark books for children you should consider. Frankly, I've always been bored silly with the heavily-varnished image of Lewis and Clark, the infallible, all-knowing demigods in three-cornered hats striding across a Hollywood landscape dispensing civilization to beknighted savages. Such trifle may make for good statues, I suppose, but lousy history.

How much more inspiring to get to know them as them as human beings filled with fear and doubt --as we all are-- who nonetheless overcome incredible odds to accomplish Great Works.

What distinguishes "Lewis and Clark for Dummies" is that it makes the point nicely that, as formidable as they were, Lewis and Clark were just two of a whole landscape filled with extraordinary people whose contributions made the Voyage of Discovery the most unlikely of successes. Time and again this expedition was rescued from disaster by the quick thinking, wisdom or the lucky stars of a sergeant, an enlisted man, a simple frontier guide or even the Black slave York or the Indian girl, Sacagawea. Time and again the Corps stumbled into the arms of Native peoples who could have ended their expedition and their lives but who chose instead to listen, to learn and in most cases, to teach.

It is also refreshing to see the myth of Sacagawea "guiding" the expedition scaled back to something more true to life and find that from the greater perspective emerges the true story of her own unlikely heroism. (I was scratching my head about the choice of cover illustration, which shows an Italian-looking Sacagawea in the cliché role of "guide." Was this supposed to be the cover for different book?)

One of the slogans of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial is "Many Voices, Many Stories." Whether you've read a little or a lot about the subject, "Lewis and Clark for Dummies," will introduce you to many of those voices and stories --some for the first time-- and serve as an excellent companion and guide for your own "Voyage of Discovery."

With the bicentenary of the L&C expedition at hand, a new book about the journey seems to appear every week. Unfortunately, many of these books seem more interested in pushing some political view than in enlightening their readers about the expedition. This book is the worst example of this trend that I have yet seen. It is racist and sexist to the point where the authors have twisted many aspects of the journey to ensure that everything the white males (especially Lewis and Clark) did was either stupid, unethical or incompetent, while everything any non-white non-males did was nearly perfect. In many cases, it appears that the authors either did not read the original journals or did not comprehend them, because portions of the book are simply not correct. If you are interested in really learning what actually happened during the L&C expedition, read either the hardcover or softcover versions of the Moulton edition of the original journals. If you prefer to have your history partially predigested for you, get a used copy of the 3-volume Dover reprint of the 1893 Elliot Coues edition. If you must have political correctness added to your reality, purchase the Stephen Ambrose version. While Ambrose added enough political correctness to his book to satisfy even his University colleagues, at least he had studied and understood the original Journals. The only reason I can think of to purchase and read this book is if you are truly commited to the idea that the only thing that matters in a book any more is that it is totally politically correct, even at the expense of reality, or if you really believe that being a white male automatically makes a person despicable. Anyone wanting to really understand the L&C expedition should also avoid this book because it wastes so much space on the political correctness aspects that it almost completely ignores the majority of the journey.