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stevenyenzer's review against another edition
4.0
I don't usually like reading "essential" or abridged books, but I didn't think I would ever be tackling the full Lewis and Clark journals. The Essential Lewis and Clark provides a great taste of the journey, and the audiobook I listened to was a great way to hear it.
mikecross's review against another edition
4.0
An American masterpiece of history. The editor does a superb job of distilling and translating very old text into a fantastic diary and story. There is really nothing wrong with this book and should be on every history readers list. Just fantastic.
arp_co's review against another edition
3.0
Well edited and fun to hear Lewis and Clark's letters read. Unfortunately, there isn't much explanation of what is going on.
joshmillernj's review against another edition
4.0
I have not read many books that are compiled in a "diary-like" nature. However, this book was fascinating as one could really imagine all of the scenarios playing out while Lewis & Clark made their famous trek across the Wild, Wild, West and Northwest to find a passage to the Pacific Ocean. This voyage was commissioned on behalf of the President Thomas Jefferson and the United States government shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
Throughout school, I had briefly studied this expedition and only knew scant details of the arduous journey. And what a journey it was! And to think that only one person died throughout the entire trip of 2+ years and thousands of miles on boat, horseback, walking, and traversing through Indian country. It really is a testament to the mettle & leadership of Lewis and Clark.
Two items that I really enjoyed about this book: 1) some of it describes their journeys through Montana, even through the very valley and river that I grew up near and 2) the adept way they handled some of the delicate situations with the Indians. What diplomacy they used with the Indians! Lesser men would have quickly become angry and killed many of the Indians who gave them troubles. However, these men worked diligently at befriending any and all Indians they came in contact with. It was only as a last resort when attached or continually robbed that they resorted to force with any Indians.
I highly recommend this book for any and all students of history!
Throughout school, I had briefly studied this expedition and only knew scant details of the arduous journey. And what a journey it was! And to think that only one person died throughout the entire trip of 2+ years and thousands of miles on boat, horseback, walking, and traversing through Indian country. It really is a testament to the mettle & leadership of Lewis and Clark.
Two items that I really enjoyed about this book: 1) some of it describes their journeys through Montana, even through the very valley and river that I grew up near and 2) the adept way they handled some of the delicate situations with the Indians. What diplomacy they used with the Indians! Lesser men would have quickly become angry and killed many of the Indians who gave them troubles. However, these men worked diligently at befriending any and all Indians they came in contact with. It was only as a last resort when attached or continually robbed that they resorted to force with any Indians.
I highly recommend this book for any and all students of history!
celbl8o's review against another edition
3.0
3.75 stars
The journals themselves are interesting and provide lots to think about but I found myself wishing that Jones would have provided the reader with more of an equal balance between Lewis and Clark's writing. Clark's writing was certainly present when Lewis dropped off writing for a while but when Jones had the opportunity to use Lewis's entries, he seemed to favor those greatly. Maybe there's a good reason for that--Lewis's entries tend to have been written better and with more details regarding scenery, etc. but there are times when Lewis tells what Clark was doing and, perhaps, it would have been nice to at the very least hear from Clark at those times. Sometimes Lewis was writing about Clark's experiences when they were taking separate tasks on and Lewis could only have known about what Clark was doing from hearing from Clark or other members of the Corps of Discovery. When they were separated from one another, it would have been nice to get to see both of their journals for the days.
Still, the compilation was fairly well done and I enjoyed reading it. There's a lot to get out of these journals and it's worth taking a look at them! Jones's compilation of selections from the journal is comprehensive and especially worth it if you're on a bit of a time crunch to get a grasp on the expedition.
The journals themselves are interesting and provide lots to think about but I found myself wishing that Jones would have provided the reader with more of an equal balance between Lewis and Clark's writing. Clark's writing was certainly present when Lewis dropped off writing for a while but when Jones had the opportunity to use Lewis's entries, he seemed to favor those greatly. Maybe there's a good reason for that--Lewis's entries tend to have been written better and with more details regarding scenery, etc. but there are times when Lewis tells what Clark was doing and, perhaps, it would have been nice to at the very least hear from Clark at those times. Sometimes Lewis was writing about Clark's experiences when they were taking separate tasks on and Lewis could only have known about what Clark was doing from hearing from Clark or other members of the Corps of Discovery. When they were separated from one another, it would have been nice to get to see both of their journals for the days.
Still, the compilation was fairly well done and I enjoyed reading it. There's a lot to get out of these journals and it's worth taking a look at them! Jones's compilation of selections from the journal is comprehensive and especially worth it if you're on a bit of a time crunch to get a grasp on the expedition.
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