Undaunted Courage
Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the opening of the American West
by Stephen E. Ambrose · first published 1996
60% recommend40% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Narrative history of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Readers value its focus on the planning, unknowns and personal drive behind a hard undertaking, and its vivid detail on Jefferson and the expedition's people.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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 was the perfect choice. He endured incredible hardships and saw incredible sights, including vast herds of buffalo and Indian tribes that had had no previous contact with white men. He 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 territor
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Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. The tale of Lewis and Clark as told largely from Lewis' journal from the journey.
on “Ask HN: Books about people who did hard things” ↗I highly recommend the book “Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West” by Stephen Ambrose. It truly brings the Lewis and Clark expedition to life. Of particular note for me was how much personal time…
on “Shenandoah Students Creating VR Experience Following the Lewis and Clark Trail” ↗Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose is a great book about the expedition. I picked it up on a trip to the US and really enjoyed it. One of my favourite things I didn't know was that they kept getting to new 'untouched'…
on “Lewis and Clark marked their trail with laxatives” ↗I read these three books last year and I believe that each would be interesting to you: Undaunted Courage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undaunted_Courage This is about doing something extremely hard with a huge amount of unknowns, and the type of person it takes to succeed. How Big Things Get Done https://www.amazon.com/How-Big-Things-Get-Done/dp/0593239512…
on “Ask HN: Books about people who did hard things” ↗Dungeon Crawler Carl book 7. Started the series in January. Most books I've read in a year since I read the Expanse series. Historical books that are great... Empire of the Summer Moon, Undaunted Courage, Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates
on “Ask HN: What are you reading?” ↗As usual for Ambrose, Undaunted Courage is a phenomenal read.
on “Lewis and Clark expedition left a trail of heavy-metal laxatives (2010)” ↗…mercury to treat a whole variety of ailments. Mostly because they had nothing else to use. They also had many skin problems during the journey from not eating enough vegetables. https://www.amazon.com/Undaunted-Courage-Meriwether-Jefferso...
on “Lewis and Clark expedition left a trail of heavy-metal laxatives (2010)” ↗I remember from Stephen Ambrose's book "Undaunted Courage" that oftentimes they kept concubine Native American Indians as "guides" / interpretors, who sometimes ended up becoming the group's traveling STD incubator. Another 90's book mentioning the prevalence…
on “Syphilis-like diseases were already widespread in America before Columbus” ↗I was just reading Stephen Ambrose's book about the Lewis & Clark expedition ("Undaunted Courage.") A key moment in their multi-year expedition (after surviving their first winter) was reaching the other side of the Rocky mountains and then hoping they'd be able to buy horses from a local tribe.…
on “Sacagawea” ↗…teaser that talks a bit about what the story is actually about? (Nonfiction book titles utilize a variant of this strategy: a clever first title and a descriptive subtitle, separated by a colon, as in "Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West"). Many submissions have clever titles, but often what we really want is the teasers.
on “Unsolicited Advice is a Valuable Clue” ↗…and run. I already feel the future of my childhood has arrived. I am very excided for the technology we will see in the next couple decades. PS I only used Thomas Jefferson because I recently read Undaunted Courage that talked about Jefferson's lamentations of slow progress. PPS Computer aided design could be seen as the last great technology boom. It has allowed us to build more efficient and lighter machines…
on “Geniuses of the past were aristocratically tutored” ↗