A review by relf
Boone: A Biography by Robert Morgan

adventurous informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

Robert Morgan's biography of Daniel Boone gives a good account of what is actually known about his life versus the mythology that began even during Boone's lifetime. Morgan shows Boone as a complex character who prized his time alone and with others hunting in the forest, yet valued the family who mostly had to get along without him. He felt a kinship with Native Americans--especially with the family who had kidnapped and then adopted him--but he made his name by leading the people who took and despoiled native lands. And I had not known that Boone owned and traded enslaved people. Boone was a natural leader, a calm and thoughtful negotiator, and a valued surveyor, but he was terrible at administrative paperwork and handling money, and wound up in debt and with numerous lawsuits against him. (I can't help speculating on whether Boone had what we'd call ADD today.) I appreciated the historical context Morgan provided as well as his research into daily life--what kind of vessels took settlers down the Ohio River, how salt was boiled, etc. I have a number of ancestors who moved into Kentucky just after the Revolution, and this book put their moves in context for me. The book could have used a bit of editing to remove repetition and pick up the pace, but it made for a good audiobook.