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A review by cjbookjunkie
Brave Companions: Portraits in History by David McCullough
4.0
I listened to this on audio. It is narrated by McCullough who is great writer but not the best narrator. I would recommend reading it. This is a collection of essays about several people who had a major impact on the world or the US. It is an impressive list of people.
Alexander von Humboldt, geographer, naturalist, and surveyor. When visiting Jefferson in the White House to describe his explorations of South America, Humboldt confused the other guests, but not Jefferson, by switching (without realizing it) between English, German, French, and Spanish.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, who I think is one of the most fascinating people in our nation's history. She wrote much more than Uncle Tom’s Cabin. She certainly experienced more than her share of tragedy.
Frederic Remington, an artist who gave the rest of the nation their first imagery of the West.
Teddy Roosevelt during his years in North Dakota.
Louis Agassiz, the Harvard professor who made significant scientific contributions to zoology, and geology. This was particularly interesting to me as I had never heard of him.
Pioneering pilots Charles and Anne Lindbergh, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Beryl Markham.
Harry Caudill, the Kentucky lawyer who brought the dangers of strip mining to the headlines and courtrooms.
Dame Miriam Rothschild (yep, those Rothschilds) who earned international recognition for her study of fleas and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. She collected paintings by schizophrenics. Another person who I knew nothing about.
The men who made the Brooklyn Bridge, its designer John A. Roebling, and his son Washington Roebling who erected it. They had to invent new technologies and tools to do it. They designed and erected what at the time was the longest bridge in the world.
Conrad Richter, the author who brought the American frontier to the mind's eye of readers around the world.
David Plowden, a gifted photographer of industrial and agricultural America. I had never heard of him either.
McCullough talks in the introduction about he similar all these people were in some respects and why that is significant. All in all, it is an interesting look at how people of such varied education, profession, and experience all had a major impact on the world we live in today.
Alexander von Humboldt, geographer, naturalist, and surveyor. When visiting Jefferson in the White House to describe his explorations of South America, Humboldt confused the other guests, but not Jefferson, by switching (without realizing it) between English, German, French, and Spanish.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, who I think is one of the most fascinating people in our nation's history. She wrote much more than Uncle Tom’s Cabin. She certainly experienced more than her share of tragedy.
Frederic Remington, an artist who gave the rest of the nation their first imagery of the West.
Teddy Roosevelt during his years in North Dakota.
Louis Agassiz, the Harvard professor who made significant scientific contributions to zoology, and geology. This was particularly interesting to me as I had never heard of him.
Pioneering pilots Charles and Anne Lindbergh, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Beryl Markham.
Harry Caudill, the Kentucky lawyer who brought the dangers of strip mining to the headlines and courtrooms.
Dame Miriam Rothschild (yep, those Rothschilds) who earned international recognition for her study of fleas and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. She collected paintings by schizophrenics. Another person who I knew nothing about.
The men who made the Brooklyn Bridge, its designer John A. Roebling, and his son Washington Roebling who erected it. They had to invent new technologies and tools to do it. They designed and erected what at the time was the longest bridge in the world.
Conrad Richter, the author who brought the American frontier to the mind's eye of readers around the world.
David Plowden, a gifted photographer of industrial and agricultural America. I had never heard of him either.
McCullough talks in the introduction about he similar all these people were in some respects and why that is significant. All in all, it is an interesting look at how people of such varied education, profession, and experience all had a major impact on the world we live in today.