Customer Reviews

Undaunted Courage - Audio Cassettes

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This book is the most exciting piece of non fiction I've ever read. Ambrose makes the reader feel as though they are right there with the expedition as they battle disease, starvation, treacherous whitewater, hostile indians and the environment itself as they struggle to cross the unexplored interior of the United States. The Lewis & Clark expedition I learned about in school was seriously lacking in excitement when compared to this chronicle.

The beginning of the book is somewhat tedious as Ambrose spends what seems like far too many pages listing off the various supplies obtained and preparations made for the voyage. Once the expedition begins, however, the book is hard to put down.

The extensive use of the actual diaries of the expedition members lends a vibrance to the descriptions of the various tribes of Indians, wildlife, and natural obstacles encountered. The diaries also offer a glimpse into the personalities of these famous figures and their crew. The holes left by the diaries and other historical documents are deftly filled in by Ambrose. He further colors the characters, settings, and situations with well grounded inference.

Additionally, the author's detailed treatment of the political situation in the United States at the time places this journey in great historic and political perspective.

Highly recomended!

"Undaunted Courage" is a wonderful journey through the past. It is detail and detail, mixed with adventure and adventure, with a pinch of suspense added in to create the feeling that you are there. The book has led me to a keen interest in Thomas Jefferson and his many little known but great contributions to America, which in turn led me to another journey through the past involving Thomas Jefferson in the book "West Point" by Norman Remick. Like "Undaunted Courage", "West Point" is another monumental feat of research. I have to thank Mr. Ambrose for writing like the good and interesting teacher who stimulates the student and opens the doorways to further knowledge.

For a fascinating and informative journey through American lore and history, Stephen Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" is a great choice. It's a story of daunting physical and mental courage, and, the beginning of how the West was won. I feel I would also like to add my name to those other reviewers who recommend also reading Norman Thomas Remick's "West Point: Character Leadership Education, A Book Developed From Thomas Jefferson's Readings And Writings" which is less about West Point and more the epic of America's historical and philosophical genesis.

"Undaunted Courage" is historian Stephen E. Ambrose's masterfully told and compelling account of The Lewis and Clark expedition, one of the most historically significant journeys of exploration in American history.

Relying extensively on the Journals of Lewis and Clark, Ambrose has put together a highly entertaining, meticulously researched, wonderfully readable, and fast paced narrative that interweaves a fascinating biography of Meriwether Lewis with a spellbinding account of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Ambrose captures completely with his fast-paced narrative the key events of the Lewis and Clark expedition. With a keen eye for detail, he describes the formation of the Corps of Discovery; its ascent to the headwaters of the Missouri River and its many encounters with native tribes along the way; the crossing of the "Great Portage," the Continental Divide, and the Rocky Nountains; and its encampment in November 1805 on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, at the mouth of the Columbia River. Also described is the expedition's return voyage, when the expedition once again searched in vain for a water route to the Pacific, and also when the expedition had its one and only hostile engagement with natives. Finally, Ambrose describes the aftermath of the expedition - how the Journals of Lewis and Clark came to be published, and the divergent (and, for Lewis, ultimately tragic) careers of these two great explorers.

I found Ambrose's portraits of the key players in this real-life drama to be superb! Lewis is a born naturalist with a keen eye for scientific observation. He's also a gifted leader of men, ever conscious of his subordinates' welfare, and always gaining from them loyalty that is complete and willingly given. Clark, the "co-captain" (in reality the second in command), is a less gifted scientist, but equal to Lewis in leadership ability, and in many ways a more talented explorer and map maker. Jefferson, perhaps America's greatest genius of the Age of Enlightenment, is the man possessed with the vision to see that the voyage is undertaken. Sacagawea, the teenage Shoshone girl, kidnapped from her tribe, sold to Canadian traders, and the mother of a newborn son, is possessed with remarkable stoicism and diplomatic skills which become essential to the Corps of Discovery's survival. In addition, Ambrose proves himself to be a first-rate nature writer himself, with his breathtaking descriptions of the flora, fauna, and physical beauty of the American Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, and Pacific Northwest.

"Undaunted Courage" is America's great adventure story, told by one of this nation's foremost contemporary historians and biographers. Highly recommended!

Ambrose chose a huge sprawling subject and wrote a medium size book that does not sprawl at all. In order to accomplish this he had to write in an almost telegraphic style. This book is largely descriptive with frequent, but brief interpretive asides.

Ambrose's admiration for Meriwether Lewis is great, but he is not remiss in pointing out when the brave captain was rash and showed bad judgement. One ominous theme that Ambrose keeps returning to is the mental illness that ran in Lewis's family. He is careful never to explicitly label an act of rashness as an "episode", but he implies it.

Anyone fascinated by native American cultures should read this book. It offers a tantalizing look at several tribes either at or immediately following "contact". If you know anything about the later history of the tribes of the Upper Missouri and Pacific Northwest, this book just drips with tragedy and none of it is spelled out in a silly melodramatic way; Ambrose's restraint makes the impact that much greater.

One thing that I found jarring about the writing in this book was Ambrose's irregular tendency to insert sentences in vernacular rather than standard written English. Lewis and Clark and their expedition are occasionally referred to as "guys" and what they are carrying is called "stuff". This sort of casual voice seemed out of place to me and broke the mood of the narrative.

If you don't expect history books to be particularly literary, but just to tell a good story, then you'll think this is a terrific book. If you are looking for a meditation on the ramifications of the L&C expedition with regard to the settling of the American West, then this book is a little sparse on analysis, although it is good about reporting salient information. Having read it, I guess I feel prepared to read more in-depth account about smaller segments of this story.

I agree with the prior reviewer Norman Remick who is the author of "West Point" (I looked him up), another book about Thomas Jefferson and Something, who said that Stephen Ambrose is the best "historical non-fiction novelist". It's a whole new category of novel based on historical facts, not on ones own imagination. Ambrose is a master at it.

For an interesting and informative journey through an important piece of American history, I recommend "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen E. Ambrose. It's a portrait of physical courage. I also recommend "West Point: ... Thomas Jefferson" by Norman Thomas Remick for an interesting and educational journey through history that becomes the epic of the USA. It's a portrait of mental courage.

I took the advice of that author, Norman Thomas Remick, who wrote that sterling review of this book and, generally, complimented Stephen Ambrose as being the best. He is right. This book was great, and Ambrose probably **was** the best. I also went on to read Remick's book, "West Point..Thomas Jefferson" which is factually drawn from Jefferson's own readings and writings. It's important enough that everyone should read it. A real sleeper. What a shame it doesn't get more of a push.

Ambrose's books are all excellent. Well written and expertly documented. This one is no exception. He traces the steps of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their famous journey across the wild America continent in the early 1800's. Much of his narrative is based on Lewis & Clark's own journals, but the story is told in Ambrose's indomitable style that will keep you turning the pages to the finish. You will get some special insight into the relationship between President Thomas Jefferson and Lewis and how that effected the outcome of history. The book is highly entertaining and interesting to read. Ambrose is by far on the best historical writers alive today and his work should be required reading in every classroom. As for his supposed pro-America bias, some readers claim to detect, I don't understand how that detracts from his work. That he admires the men and women, who fought for and founded our country and shows them in a fair & proper perspective, makes his accounts more creditable, not less. Read the book! It's Great.

This is a fresh, new story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition which brought about major expansion of U.S. land and population. A thorough researcher, author Stephen Ambrose provides new insights into the character and motivation of those who conceived the Expedition and those who carried it out. Undaunted Courage is written in day-by-day "you are there" language... you feel the excitement, danger, brutal hardship and triumphs that this courageous band of thirty experienced during the two-year period of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, May 1804 to September, 1806.

You experience fully these profound events in our history because writer Ambrose is particularly skillful at presenting vivid word pictures of our country at the time Jefferson became president, March 4, 1801. The U. S. Population was over five-million. Our smaller boundaries ranged from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, the Great Lakes and the Gulf Most people lived within fifty miles of water: the interior was a vast, unexplored wilderness.

Nothing, in those days, moved faster than a horse, and as far as anybody knew, nothing ever would. That's why Jefferson promoted finding a water route to the Pacific. It took six weeks to move information overland from the Mississippi River to Washington D.C. Sixty years later, when Lincoln took office, information moved almost instantly by telegraph.

New research brought to light in this best seller reaffirms the towering stature of the leading players, Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark. Throughout the book, one becomes increasingly aware of the extraordinarily high degree of energy, intelligence, intuitive judgement and sheer physical prowess of these historical figures, particularly Thomas Jefferson, who stands out as a brilliant thinker-and-doer in the development and growth of this country, yet not without his own quixotic, very human foibles.

For anyone with a genuine interest on how America came to be, this is surely a must-read book.