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Title: Passage of Discovery: The American Rivers Guide to the Missouri River of Lewis and Clark by Daniel B. Botkin, Stephen E. Ambrose, Robert Redford ISBN: 0-399-52510-6 Publisher: Perigee Pub. Date: July, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (3 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: A Waterlogged Trip up the Missouri
Comment: This book is not meant as a precise historical account of the journeys of Lewis & Clark, but a study of the Missouri River and its surrounding areas as the explorers saw them, vs. how these areas have changed since then. Also, the portion of the Lewis & Clark journey west of the Rockies is not included, as the book sticks to the Missouri River. The most blatant changes in these ecosystems are the straightening and channelization of the river itself, which has led to massive environmental (and economic) damage for a pathetically small amount of barge traffic; plus the conversion of vast prairies to farmland which has led to serious losses of native flora and fauna. The book becomes a messy mixture of travelogue, as Botkin describes how to reach key areas of the river, and musings on the environmental health of these areas. While Botkin has had well-deserved success in environmentalist circles, his attempts to draw up naturalist ethics and morality significantly weaken this book. A lack of focus and the squishy writing of a college freshman are also damaging. Botkin is prone to god-awful metaphors, starting the main narrative awkwardly with "Rocks are nature's books; minerals are its words" and populating the rest of the book with more groaners like "Rocks Tell Stories and Soils are Nature's Braille" (subtitle of chapter 25). His attempts to wax philosophical on mankind's modern lack of connection with nature, while correct in spirit, are also unsuccessful in the writing department. See the awkward comparison of a pelican's spiraling flight path to society's shifting concerns for the environment in chapter 6, or the predictable comparison of prairie dog towns with an ideal human society in chapter 32. This book had the potential to be a real winner as both a travelogue with a historical twist and as a treatise on environmental philosophy. Unfortunately it merely flirts with those two strengths without really nailing them, and is sunk overall by weak writing.
Rating: 5
Summary: Fantastic travel book!!
Comment: This is a fantastic book for anyone visiting the Missouri river.
Book has handy maps, illustrations and reference points for the person making a modern day trip. Notes by Stephen Ambrose and Robert Redford at beginning and end of book commend book as well!
If you are only mildly interested in Lewis and Clark before reading this book - afterwards you'll be completely astounded by their feats!!
Rating: 5
Summary: Very readable and informative!
Comment: Nothing is as constant as change on the unfettered Missouri River. Few stretches of the Missouri remain as Lewis & Clark observed them. The river, as Botkin observes, is "nature's landscape painter". The canvas is continually changing in response to the forces of a river draining one-sixth of the U.S.
Botkin presents us with the story of the first navigation of the river by Lewis and Clarke, through the river's channalization by the Army Corp of Engineers, to present efforts to restore and interpret the river.
But, this book is more than an inventory of facts and issues. It contains vivid illustrations of nature's interrelationships and wry observations on the irony of man "improving" nature.
This is a very practical, pragmatic, yet poetic book.
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Title: Our Natural History: The Lessons of Lewis and Clark by Daniel B. Botkin ISBN: 0399140484 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Pub. Date: May, 1995 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon by Edward Dolnick ISBN: B00009MVI2 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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Title: Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk by Jennifer Niven ISBN: 0786884460 Publisher: Hyperion Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Traveling the Lewis and Clark Trail, 3rd by Julie Fanselow ISBN: 0762725893 Publisher: Falcon Pub. Date: June, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Eleanor and Harry: The Correspondence of Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman by Eleanor Roosevelt, Steve Neal, Harry S. Truman, Gloria Steinem ISBN: B000094P5D Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: September, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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