The Mississippi and the Making of a Nation: From the Louisiana Purchase to Today [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

~ Stephen E. Ambrose (Author), Douglas Brinkley (Author), Sam Abell (Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"The Mississippi River alone represents more than 2,350 miles of America's lifeblood," write Ambrose and Brinkley of the waterway known as Old Man River and America's River. This lively narrative is built around the authors' trip up the Mississippi from New Orleans to Minnesota on the 19th-century steamboat Delta Queen in celebration of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial. Ambrose, bestselling author of Nothing Like It in the World, and noted historian Brinkley (The Unfinished Presidency), weave regional history with their personal account of the sights, from the intersection of Highways 61 and 49 near Clarksdale, Miss., where legend has it that musician Robert Johnson "sold his... soul to the devil to play the meanest blues guitar in the region," to their encounter with a domesticated bald eagle at a sanctuary near the Twin Cities. They stress the economic and cultural importance of the river valley to the nation, recount quirky regional "firsts" (such as the debut of peanut butter at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair) and focus above all on the machinations that led to Jefferson's 1803 purchase of the territory from France. Combining an impressively broad overview of the region with a detailed account of the Louisiana Purchase, this absorbing book should please any lay enthusiast of American history. 150 pages of photos and maps.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The Mississippi River valley and the enormous region that drains into it form much of the American heartland. The history of this region is the history of much of our country, and its presence is prominent in much of our literature and culture. National Geographic's last book on this important area was published in 1971, and this update by popular historians Ambrose and Brinkley (who both traveled the river's 2,353 miles for the project) is a welcome addition to the literature on the region. This title is well illustrated in the tradition of National Geographic publications, and yet the text is informative and substantial enough to make this more than another coffee-table book. This work, which tells the river's story from the time of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase onward, promises to appeal to a wide range of readers and would be an excellent addition to the collections of most public libraries and many academic libraries as well.
Charlie Cowling, Drake Memorial Lib., SUNY at Brockport
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic Society; 1st edition (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792269136
• ISBN-13: 978-0792269137
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #750,885 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Coffee-table effort, April 24, 2008

By	Todd Stockslager (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

Photography by Sam Abell.

Coffee-table book tracing the Mississippi from New Orleans up to Minnesota. Basically episodic historic tidbits wrapped around pretty pictures.

9 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Missing parts, July 17, 2003

By A Customer

I was disappointed that the accomplishments and contributions of French, Spanish, Swedish, German, etc., ethnic groups to the Mississippi story was not told. I think the book gave excellent coverage of the contributions of the black ethnic groups that I was unaware. Is this a 'politically correct' version of the Mississippi story?