I just finished Undaunted Courage by Stephn E. Ambrose. Phew. THAT was a haul. Don't get me wrong, I love history. I was a history major. I also like long books. This was a long book. Not as long as Lewis and Clark's journey, it just seemed like it. Sometimes even vaunted historians can be a little....well, stuck in the minutiae.
Not that the details of the Lewis and Clark Expedition weren't interesting, it's just there were so many of them. I think my problem is that I USUALLY prefer history written as fiction, or through the eyes of the participants. I have read many of the Shaara books, starting with Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize winning Killer Angels, the riveting story of Gettysburg as told through the Civil War generals. His son Jeffrey went on to write the prequel and sequel to Killer Angels, but to date my favorite of his books is Rise to Rebellion, which is about the Revolutionary War. It will make you proud to be an American. I also enjoyed No Less than Victory. This is part of Jeffrey Shaara's WWII series, telling the story of the Battle of the Bulge through the eyes of the soldiers who took part. He researched real letters and correspondence, photographs and reports, but his most interesting sources were the live interviews he did with veterans of that brutal battle. Now THAT is living history. And for me, a much more interesting read.
I will say that I learned a TON about Lewis and Clark that had not been taught to me in school. Or that I'd been taught, learned for the test and promptly forgot. (For instance, did you know that only 1 man died, and it was from appendicitis?) So if you love Lewis and Clark, read this book! Or, just check them out on Google.
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