Undaunted Courage

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars | 6,827 ratings

Price: 22.96

Last update: 01-11-2025


About this item

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead a voyage up the Missouri River, across the forbidding Rockies, and - by way of the Snake and Columbia rivers - down to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis and his partner, Captain William Clark, endured incredible hardships and witnessed astounding sights. With great perseverance, they worked their way into an unexplored West. When they returned two years later, they had long since been given up for dead.

Undaunted Courage is supported by a variety of colorful characters: Jefferson and his vision of the West; Clark, the artist and mapmaker; and Lewis, the enigma, who led brilliantly but considered the mission a failure. After suffering several periods of depression - and despite his status as national hero - Lewis died mysteriously, apparently by his own hand.


Top reviews from the United States

Michael Walter
5.0 out of 5 stars What An Epic Tale
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2024
On our vacation out west last month I saw a few historical markers for Lewis and Clark. I had to admit to myself that, though I knew their names and vaguely what they'd done, I was not aware of any of the details of their expedition. I either missed that day in American History or that knowledge has left my head to make room for song lyrics (which I assume take up most of my brain's hard drive space.). So I looked on Amazon and saw that Stephen E Ambrose had written a book about them and I recognized his name so I purchased it and have been reading it since the vacation.

What an epic story of an incredible journey! I learned so much, starting with Lewis' first name, Meriwether, and the fact that it was Thomas Jefferson who not only completed the Louisiana Purchase but then commissioned the expedition, mainly in hopes of finding an all water route from the east coast to the west coast (spoiler alert: those damn Rocky Mountains get in the way.) One of the things that fascinated me was how bereft Jefferson (and everyone else back east) was about how the trek was going. In our day and age where you can video chat with someone halfway around the world in real time, it's impossible to imagine a day and age when it would take two years to learn whether Lewis and Clark and their small group made it safely to the Pacific Ocean or were slaughtered along the way.

The book itself was rich with details, culled mainly from Lewis and Clark's individual journals which they kept dutifully during the entire expedition. But Ambrose doesn't shy away from editorializing either. He very openly discusses all the broken promises made to the Native American tribes the expedition encountered, as well as how growing up as slaveholders influenced Jefferson, Lewis and Clark in their thinking that certain races are superior to others. That is the true dilemma of this great nation, and one that cannot be ignored when discussing something as monumental as Lewis and Clark's expedition. Did the good outweigh the bad? If history, as they say, is the story of the winners, then the answer is Yes. Could we as a nation have prospered any other way? That, we'll never know.

After the expedition was complete, there were still about 80 pages left in the book. I didn't see how there could be. Other than getting their journals published, what more was there to the Lewis and Clark story? Silly me. I had no idea about Meriwether Lewis' sad and tragic ending. It actually wept a little when I read it.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves a good adventure story, especially if you're like me and you somehow missed out on all the details of this great expedition in school. It's a true American story of bravery and exploration. And next time I'm out west I'll be sure to pull over at one of those historical markers and appreciate it a lot more.
Roadrider
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I ever read.
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2024
Great captivating book with accurate history. It should be required reading to become a citizen.....with a test.
Joseph E. Demartino
4.0 out of 5 stars Another fine book from Ambrose
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2013
I had previously read and enjoyed Ambrose's "Band of Brothers", "D-Day" and "Citizens Soldiers", and I also have an interest in earlier American history, so I had to read "Undaunted Courage". I'm about half way through and am enjoying the book. Ambrose puts much emphasis Thomas Jefferson and his relationship with Lewis, so much so that Jefferson is almost as much of a character during the tale of the journey as the two Captains and the rest of the party. Ambrose is a more unabashed fan of Jefferson's than I am (I lean towards the John Adams side of that revolutionary split, while understanding the faults and flaws of both), but the TJ hosannas are muted enough not to be annoying. Ambrose was an effective popularizer of American history, and did a great service in bringing the past to life for readers who are not specialists or academics - despite the plagiarism scandals which rightly muddied his reputation among professional historians. And he was never the stylist that David McCullough is. (Though McCullough leans as far towards Adams as Ambrose did towards Jefferson.) But Ambrose writes clear prose, tells an interesting story and puts things in context - which puts him ahead of most popular historians and miles beyond most academics. (Who appear to regard the ability to write clear prose as some kind of personality disorder.)
Graybeard
5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting!
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2013
Author Stephen Ambrose masterfully tells the story of the 1804-1806 expedition commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore, chart, and gather scientific data about the Louisiana Purchase territory and the Pacific Northwest. The book also shows the important support role played by the young Indian woman, Sacagawea. Sacagawea was only 15 or 16 years old and had just given birth when she joined the expedition. What an incredibly heroic figure - and to be so at such a young age! Amazing!

A small core group assembled at an initial staging area near Louisville, on the Ohio River, where they acquired boats and supplies. They took the river downstream to St. Louis, Missouri on the Mississippi River, which at that time was part of the western frontier of the young United States. There they made final preparations and took on provisions, ammunition, other supplies, and additional personnel for the expedition. The expedition formally began there in St. Louis. The party proceeded by canoe up the Mississippi River to its confluence with the Missouri River, then took the Missouri River upstream to its headwaters. The explorers made many camps along the way, established relations with the many Indian tribes they encountered, and received tons of assistance from them, better enabling the explorers to overcome the various and sundry challenges they confronted and seize whatever opportunities arose along the way.

Beyond the Missouri's headwaters, the expedition had to proceed overland. Thanks to helpful guidance from the Indians, the party found a broad, gentle, well-traveled Indian trail through a pass that took them safely across the Continental Divide, thereby sparing them from an arduous, dangerous climb up and down the rugged Rocky Mountains. When the intrepid explorers reached a river system on the western side of the Divide, they resumed the rest of their westward journey by canoe. This water route eventually took them to the Columbia River, which carried them to the Pacific coast.

In the return trip back east to St. Louis, the expedition partially retraced its westbound steps, but also explored new routes.

Round-trip, the expedition lasted 2 years and 4 months. During that time, the expedition faced and overcame massive challenges related to weather, terrain, sickness, food, shelter, clothing and their beasts of burden. The explorers encountered literally dozens of Indian tribes on the outbound and return treks, proactively established relations with them and dealt with the problems that sometimes arose in those situations. Overall, the information and assistance that friendly Indians provided the expedition far outweighed any trouble that arose during encounters with hostile Indians, and contributed to the success of the expedition.

The explorers also saw majestic views and nature's beauty, although one wonders whether the challenges they faced 24/7 enabled them to take much pleasure in those scenes.

If you like history, adventure, travel, and colorful, intelligent writing, you will love this book. I've listened to the audio version multiple times, masterfully read by Cotter Smith.

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