Undaunted Courage

Meriwether Lewis Thomas Jefferson And The Opening Of The American West

By: Stephen E. Ambrose

Narrated by: Barrett Whitener

From the New York Times bestselling author of Band of Brothers and D-Day, the definitive book on Lewis and Clark’s exploration of the Louisiana Purchase, the most momentous expedition in American history and one of the great adventure stories of all time.

In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead a voyage up the Missouri River to the Rockies, over the mountains, down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean, and back. Lewis and his partner, Captain William Clark, made the first map of the trans-Mississippi West, provided invaluable scientific data on the flora and fauna of the Louisiana Purchase territory, and established the American claim to Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.

Ambrose has pieced together previously unknown information about weather, terrain, and medical knowledge at the time to provide a vivid backdrop for the expedition. Lewis is supported by a rich variety of colorful characters, first of all Jefferson himself, whose interest in exploring and acquiring the American West went back thirty years. Next comes Clark, a rugged frontiersman whose love for Lewis matched Jefferson’s. There are numerous Native American chiefs, and Sacagawea, the Native American girl who accompanied the expedition, along with the French-Indian hunter Drouillard, the great naturalists of Philadelphia, the French and Spanish fur traders of St. Louis, John Quincy Adams, and many more leading political, scientific, and military figures of the turn of the century.

High adventure, high politics, suspense, drama, and diplomacy combine with high romance and personal tragedy to make this outstanding work of scholarship as readable as a novel.

Critic reviews

Ken Burns Stephen Ambrose is that rare breed: a historian with true passion for his subject. Here he takes one of the great, but also one of the most superficially considered, stories in American history and breathes fresh life into it. Lewis comes alive as we've never known him.

Another Great book

Another great book by Stephen Ambrose we will miss him as a writer and historian. I found the book insightful and entertaining Ambrose opened this land up for all of us to see as Lewis and Clark saw it. Makes me want to go out and follow the trail they blazed. I live in the Northern Plains and I couldn't imagine living as they did at Ft. Mandan in the winter and have a longing to go back there. They must have been exceptional men.

What an incredible journey!

Ambrose does a fascinating job of bringing the epic journey of Lewis and Clark to life. Long, but well worth it; a very small price to pay for such a comprehensive look into American history.

A 5 STAR EXTRAVEGANZA

I'm sure there are many great reviews on this book, after all it was the great reviews that convinced me to get this in the first place.

When something is so highly rated it is often detrimental to your experience because you start out with very high expectations. When a book still blows you away after starting it with such high expectations, that's a true 5 star read!

The premise for a true adventure story doesn't get much better. A large finely picked group of men headed by 2 great men picked by the president to intensively explore the great unknown, with dangers severe enough to doubt their survival.- It was kind of like the moon shot of its time.

There are an awful lot of history writers but only a handful of great ones. Stephen Ambrose's performance with this book put him in the highest eshilon of historical writing excellence.

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION-- GREAT NARRATION- NOT TO BE MISSED

I was transport on the journey

Would you listen to Undaunted Courage again? Why?

Yes, So much incite on their lives outside the expedition.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Undaunted Courage?

Every encounter with the native indian tribes on the expedition was gripping.

Which character – as performed by Barrett Whitener – was your favorite?

Meriwether Lewis was brought to life.

Narrator's Not as bad as people say.

Narrator's Not as bad as people say. It could be worse not perfect but also people complain too much.