DWD's Reviews

Wonderful, just wonderful. Published by Simon and Schuster Audio Read by Cotter Smith Duration: 4.5 hours  Abridged A family friend gave me the abridged audio version of this book that has been on my "to read" list for years. I'd never quite gotten around to it but, boy, am I glad I finally did. Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) In Ambrose's hands the story of the Lewis & Clark expedition is lifted from the stale and stilted pages of the history textbooks and it becomes an exciting narrative - full of adventure, wonder and tons of hard work. Ambrose is a gifted writer. I am reminded of the David McCullough quote: "No harm's done to history by making it something someone would want to read." No danger of that with Ambrose. Not only has he read everything there is to be found on the topic but has traveled the route several times. William Clark (1770-1838) Cotter Smith did a great job of reading the text and keeping up

Very good Published by Audioworks in 1999. Read by the author, Stephen Ambrose. Duration: approximately 3 hours on audio cassette. Ambrose's stories of male friendship would be good in any format, but why read what Ambrose wrote when you can hear him read it to you? There is the added benefit of hearing Ambrose's emphasis on a phrase, his light-hearted tone in some areas and, even more important to the emotional punch of some of the stories, hearing his voice break at particularly touching moments (perhaps the most touching was a comment that is highlighted in HBO's Band of Brothers . A veteran of Easy Company is asked by his grandson, "Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?" "No. I served in a company of heroes.") Stephen Ambrose (1936-2002) Ambrose focused on the friendship he and his brothers share, his friends from college, from work, the friendships of Lewis and Clark, Dwight Eisenhower and his brother Milton, Lewis and Clark, t

Good - recommended reading, but not without its faults First things first: this history teacher strongly recommends reading Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe . Magellan and the early European explorers have long been overlooked - I can only assume due to Politically Correct attitudes among "professional" historians at the university level. Too bad. One does not have to admire everything that Magellan, Columbus and the other explorers did to admire bravery, audacity and the urge to explore that these men displayed. Positives: -Bergreen's text is very approachable. He tells the story in a well-paced manner and sets up the political background quite well. His portrayal of Charles I and all of the crises he faced intrigues me so much that I am going to look for a book about him. -Bergeen uses research resources that have not been used before in a popular work - more information and perspectives is always b

A solid bit of historical fiction For this Hoosier reviewer, The Massacre at Fall Creek is most interesting since the places involved are no more than a 45 minute drive from my house. Jessamyn West  (1902-84) Jessamyn West does a great job of getting the "feel" of an 1824 frontier community - how small it was, how truly far away it was from "civilization" and how that isolation created a unique culture. The storyline is based on a real incident in which several white men from a community to the north of Pendleton, Indiana killed two families of Indians, including their children and stole their furs. Records from those days are "iffy" at best so West has to fill in a lot of blanks as she goes along. In fact, she even uses fake names for the white men involved, although it may be that in the 33 years since her book was written additional research has revealed the names of the men. Of course, the Indians were outraged at this treaty

Well-written, I learned quite a bit and I've been to the battlefield George A. Custer (1839-1876) You just cannot talk about George Armstrong Custer without stirring controversy. Depending on the writer, Custer was a true American hero who was betrayed by his superiors and failed by his subordinates or he was a self-absorbed crazy racist imperialist that finally found someone that could fight back and taught him a lesson. Our movies have shown this as well. Errol Flynn's They Died With Their Boots On (1941) made a hero of Custer while Little Big Man (1970) makes a fool out of him. Sample of how Little Big Man depicts Custer: In The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of The Little Bighorn , Philbrick notes these views and takes more of a middle road. Custer comes off as a more nuanced man. Ambitious, impetuous and overly confident, but not a fool. Plus, he had reasons for that confidence - the audacious, unexpected move had always worked for hi

Not up the high standards that have been set by other books by James Alexander Thom To start, let me establish my bonafides as a fan of Mr. Thom's work. Five of his novels proudly sit on my bookshelf . I have the featured review of his novel The Red Heart on Amazon.com. When I teach world history I have my kids read a piece of historical fiction as part of a semester project. I have proudly placed copies of Follow the River and Panther in the Sky in my classroom library as examples of historical fiction at its finest. I met Thom at a conference this past spring and told him that his books were the reason I created this type of project. When at his best, Thom's books make you feel as though you have stepped into that world of the past. Warrior Woman , while accurate is just not entertaining reading. The plot meanders around and never seems to pick up steam. We never really understand Nonhelema's motives in the book - why is she so desperate to negotiate

Great introduction to Lincoln for children Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) Where Lincoln Walked is a wonderful little history mostly about Lincoln's pre-Presidential life. Lots of beautifully shot full color pictures of such places as Lincoln's mother's home in Kentucky, Lincon's boyhood home in southern Indiana and his law offices in Springfield. The author, Raymond Bial, took most of these pictures himself. He has a good eye for photography and does a great job with the text and the captions. Recommended for budding young history buffs, classrooms and the hardcore Lincoln collectors. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Where Lincoln Walked . Reviewed on December 6, 2008.

Not your traditional piece of historical fiction Nominated for seven Pulitzer Prizes in literature, Allan W. Eckert brings us the little-known true story of Daniel Boone's court martial in Kentucky during the American Revolution. The bare facts are that Boone and a great portion of the fighting men from Boonesborough were captured by Shawnee raiders who took all of them back into modern day Ohio and eventually some were taken to Detroit to meet with the British Lt. Governor Henry Hamilton, known as the "Hair Buyer" for his policy of buying scalps of settlers. Boone behaved so strangely during this entire episode that when he finally escaped the Shawnee he was brought up on charges and court martialed. Daniel Boone (1734-1820) The Court-Martial of Daniel Boone narrates the court martial and not the actual events. Eckert tells the story much like a modern courtroom drama. Boone had an unorthodox defense style that allows the prosecution to lay out their ent

This is one great book. The Red Heart  is based on the true story of Francis Slocum, a 4 year old Quaker girl who was kidnapped by Delaware Indians in the 1770s on the Pennsylvania frontier near Wilkes-Barre. (There are recreation areas named for her in both Pennsylvania and Indiana) A painting of Francis Slocum that is part of the collection at the Indiana State Museum It is also the story of her family's 60 year search for her across the Midwest and even into Canada. It is also the story of the relentless westward movement of the Americans and how the Indians dealt with it. The reader also gets a fantastic lesson on daily life among the Delaware and Miami Indians. If you're a Star Trek: The Next Generation fan you'll remember the episode entitled "Inner Light" in which Picard is "attacked" by the alien probe from the long-dead world that makes him live an entire lifetime among their people in his mind in just a few seconds so that t

Good summer fun! Aaron Burr (1756-1836) Flintlock is the frontier nickname of Nathaniel Jones, a deadeye shot on the Kentucky frontier. The book is ostensibly about Aaron Burr and his attempt to break the American West away from the rest of the United States in the early 1800s. For those of you not familiar with Burr, he was the former Vice President (Jefferson's first term) who killed America's first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton (the guy on your $10 bill) in a duel. This ruined his political career and he was accused of conspiring to turn the US territory East of the Mississippi and west of the Appalachians into a personal dictatorship. The book has a rather large prologue (almost 1/2 of the book) that concerns young Flintlock's exploits as a teen in the Revolutionary War on the Virginia/Kentucky frontier. To be honest, that is the only complaint that I have with the book - its back cover does not accurately describe its contents. It's a fun

Two incompatible ways of life symbolized by one young man Some books stand the test of time, so do not. The Light in the Forest is 57 years old and still holds true, both historically and as a story. Based in Pennsylvania during the years preceding the French and Indian War, the story revolves around True Son, a young man who had been kidnapped from his family by Lenni Lenape Indians at age four. True Son is adopted by an honorable, respected man named Cuyolga to replace a son who died from disease. Over time, True Son forgets his white parents and becomes a full Lenni Lenape. However, a treaty is signed that requires that the white "captives" be returned to their white families. True Son is returned and the bulk of the book concerns itself with True Son's reactions to the white society he was forced to leave more than a decade earlier. Eventually, True Son escapes back to his adopted family and settles back into his comfortable way of life. Conrad Richter