Jefferson and the Gun-Men: How the West Was Almost Lost Review

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Jefferson and the Gun-Men: How the West Was Almost Lost ReviewMontgomery's book is a wonderful, delightful history of not only Lewis and Clark, but also the lesser known tale of Zebulon Pike's (ahem) explorations and the maneuverings of General James Wilkinson and Aaron Burr. The book is broken up by date, with each day of the history getting anything from a line to several pages. The whole book is full of humor, and Montgomery's zest for telling the story comes through consistently. This book is highly recommended for anyone who wants an introduction to Lewis and Clark (though at least passing familiarity is suggested) or wants a fresh look at their expedition.This book goes into the kind of details that many other histories ignore. For example, the sex lives of the Corps of Discovery and Aaron Burr's seductions are gone into with some detail.Where Montgomery really hits his stride is in the details of Aaron Burr's plot to make himself Emperor of the American west and James Wilkinson's part in it, as well as the General's bizarre and devious work as a Spanish spy. These divided loyalties are displayed against Lewis and Clark's loyalty to Jefferson and Jefferson's apathy for much of Burr's plot.Filled with lively anectdotes and new insight, and written more like a novel than a history, this is an excellent book on a part of our past that is unknown to far too many people.Jefferson and the Gun-Men: How the West Was Almost Lost Overview

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O Pioneers (Bantam Classics) Review

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O Pioneers (Bantam Classics) ReviewCather published her second novel, O Pioneers, in 1913 at the age of 40. Together with My Antonia it is the novel for which she is best known. Years after writing the book, Cather wrote of it " Since I wrote this book for myself, I ignored all the situations and accents that were then thought to be necessary."
The book takes place on the plains of Nebraska in the late 19th Century as the Prairie is settled be Swedish, Bohemian, and French immigrants trying to eke out a living from what appears to be a harsh, inhospitable land. The heroine of the book is Alexandra Bergson who inherits her father's farm as a young woman, raises his three sons and stays with the farm through the harsh times to become a successful landowner and farmer.
The books speaks of being wedded to the land and to place. In this sense it is an instance of the American dream of a home. It also speaks of a strong woman, not in cliched, late 20th Century terms but with a sense of ambiguity, difficulty and loss.
This is a story as well of thwarted love, of the difficult nature of sexualtiy, and of human passion. There is also the beginning of what in Cather's works will become an increased sense of religion, Catholicism in particular, as a haven and a solace for the sorrow she finds at the heart of human endeavor. Above all it is a picuure of stark life in the midwest.
There is almost as much blood-letting in this short book as in an Elizabethan tragedy. Cather's picture of American life on the plains, even in her earliest books, is not an easy or simple one. Some readers may quarrel with the seemingly happy ending of the book. I don't think any will deny that Alexandra's happiness is dearly bought or that it is bittersweet.
I tendend to shy away from this book in favor of Cather's later novels. I feared that it would be conventional and trite. The stereotyping was mine,however. This is a thoughtful, well written story of immigrant life on the plains and of the sorrow pain, and strength of the American experience.O Pioneers (Bantam Classics) Overview

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