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scholastic_squid's review
4.0
Interesting to hear about the party traveling during some of the worst months.
corncobwebs's review against another edition
2.0
Boy, I sure hope there are better accounts of the Donner Party out there! This book was fairly readable and did a fine job of presenting the bare-bones facts, but it was pretty lacking in describing the most gruesome aspects of the travelers' experiences. And, let's be honest, if you're reading a book about the Donner Party, it's probably because you want to know about the horror and gore of the cannibalism that went on. I'm sure that information exists somewhere, between survivor and rescuer accounts. But no, this book had to take the boring road and only gave scant mention to cannibalistic acts. Still, I'm glad that I read it: I knew nothing about the Donner Party other than the fact that they ate each other, so it was cool to learn more about the people and circumstances. I know there are (probably lots of) other books on this topic, so I would recommend passing this one by in favor of one that's a little (ahem) meatier.
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