Undaunted Courage Essay - 732 Words

A Brief Look at Stephen E. Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Undaunted Courage is a very detailed account of what Ambrose considers the most important expedition in American history, Lewis and Clark’s exploration of the west. Ambrose attempts to project Thomas Jefferson’s vision of a country that stretches from sea to shining sea, of an open road to the west, of an â€Å"Empire of Liberty†. Ambrose repeatedly shows how important the expedition was to the United States and especially to Thomas Jefferson by giving examples of the powers given to Lewis by Jefferson in order to complete the expedition. Lewis is given a letter of credit signed by†¦show more content†¦Ambrose is a skilled writer and he relied heavily on the journals kept by the Corp of Discovery and his own vast knowledge of the subject to tell the story and be as historically accurate as possible. One would think this combination would produce an epic tale impossible to put down. This was not the case for me. I found the book t o be a chore to read. It seemed to be too wordy. He would give long detailed descriptions of conversations and events when a simpler one would do. I also believe it tended to read as a text book or journal rather than a novel. Every third paragraph begins with a date as if it were a diary or timeline. There was little continuity to the storyline. Once these flaws are recognized another becomes apparent, its incredible size. It is a voluminous text of almost five hundred pages! This is another example of how his attention to detail might have worked against him. The story could have been told in much fewer pages and reading the story might not have been so fatiguing. Another problem I had with the book is that he used the period’s correct vernacular so any quotes or dialogue are in this flowery poetic style which does not lend itself to readability. At times, it was like reading Shakespeare. I think perhaps he spent too muchShow MoreRelatedCritical Review of Undaunted Courage8 82 Words   |  4 PagesCritical Review of Undaunted Courage Stephen Ambroses Undaunted Courage is a remarkable piece of nonfiction literature. His work is so thorough that one wonders how he has time to do much more. Yet he has created time in his life to go west and go camping and hiking and canoeing in the summers with his family. Which possibly shows that anything can be raw material to the open mind, for it was on those trips that he developed a great fascination with the Lewis and Clark expedition that exploredRead MoreUnwavering, Impervious, Undaunted Courage Essays1131 Words   |  5 PagesJefferson could collect as much information of the unknown as possible, including plants, animals, and other natural history. An author and American historian named Stephen Ambrose wrote a 484 page book retelling this story of Lewis and Clark titled Undaunted Courage. Professor at University of New Orleans, founder of the National D-day Museum, and writer/editor of over 35 books, Ambrose was well-educated on the topics he wrote about (nationalgeogra phic.com). At a young age, Ambrose joined the World War IIRead More Critical Review of Undaunted Courage Essay858 Words   |  4 Pages Critical Review of Undaunted Courage Stephen Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage is a remarkable piece of nonfiction literature. His work is so thorough that one wonders how he has time to do much more. Yet he has created time in his life to go west and go camping and hiking and canoeing in the summers with his family. Which possibly shows that anything can be raw material to the open mind, for it was on those trips that he developed a great fascination with the Lewis and Clark expedition that exploredRead MoreAnalysis Of The Journey Of Meriwether Lewis And William Clark1011 Words   |  5 PagesUndaunted Courage by Stephen E. 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