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Renowned historian Stephen Ambrose vividly brings to life Lewis and Clark's famous westward expedition (1803-1806) through the fictionalized diary of George Shannon--the youngest member of the famous explorers' team. This Vast Land is filled with colorful examples of life on the trail, (baiting grizzly bears for sport, chasing after stolen horses, etc.), and Ambrose creates a credible teenage char... More

Renowned historian Stephen Ambrose vividly brings to life Lewis and Clark's famous westward expedition (1803-1806) through the fictionalized diary of George Shannon--the youngest member of the famous explorers' team. This Vast Land is filled with colorful examples of life on the trail, (baiting grizzly bears for sport, chasing after stolen horses, etc.), and Ambrose creates a credible teenage character in George Shannon. Shannon starts out as a complete "greenhorn" who must beg and plead with Captain Lewis to take him along. He learns quickly and develops into an accomplished hunter and tracker, but when tempers flare and he gets into a fistfight, he becomes worried: "I fear...I am becoming as wild as this river...this is not right." Shannon matures on the journey, taking an Indian wife, fathering a son, even learning that he is capable of taking human life. At the end of his life, Shannon finds himself offering advice to a young cadet named Robert E. Lee: I learned...never to give up, even when you are lost without your balls." Rifle balls, that is.

This Vast Land was Ambrose's last book, edited and published by family after his death in 2002. Full of expertly wrought historical detail and earthy humor, the novel is a lively addition to the award-winning writer's significant body of work . (Ages 13 and older)--Jennifer Hubert

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