Sneak Peek: Lions of the West by Robert Morgan
Today we have an early peek at Robert Morgan’s new saga of the Westward Expansion, Lions of the West, publishing October 18th. (See below for an excerpt.) Morgan is the author of the national bestsellers Gap Creek, an Oprah Book Club selection, and Boone: A Biography, selected as one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post.
We’ve reserved three advance copies of Lions of the West for our devoted fans. For a chance to win one, just leave a comment here or on our Facebook page. Good luck!
* * * * *
America’s Manifest destiny comes to life in Robert Morgan’s skilled hands, from Thomas Jefferson’s birth in 1743 to the California Gold rush in 1849. Jefferson, a naturalist and visionary, dreamed that the United States would stretch across the continent from ocean to ocean. The account of how that dream became reality unfolds in the stories of Jefferson and nine other Americans whose adventurous spirits and lust for land pushed the westward boundaries: Andrew Jackson, John “Johnny Appleseed” Chapman, David Crockett, Sam Houston, James K. Polk, Winfield Scott, Kit Carson, Nicholas Trist, and John Quincy Adams. Their tenacity was matched only by that of their enemies—the Mexican army under Santa Anna at the Alamo, the Comanche and Apache Indians, and the forbidding geography itself.
Known also for his powerful fiction (Gap Creek, The Truest Pleasure, Brave Enemies), Morgan uses his skill at characterization to give life to the personalities of these ten Americans without whom the United States might well have ended at the Arkansas border. Their stories—and those of the nameless thousands who risked their lives to settle on the frontier, displacing thousands of Native Americans—form an extraordinary chapter in American history that led directly to the cataclysm of the Civil War.
With illustrations, portraits, maps, battle plans, appendixes, notes, and time lines, Lions of the West is a richly authoritative biography of America as compelling as a grand novel.
Advance Praise for Lions of the West:
“Robert Morgan, prolific novelist and poet of the American West, again turns his hand to writing history in this collection of vivid portraits and engaging anecdotes of famous personalities of the westward expansion.”
—Daniel Walker Howe, Pulitzer Prize winning author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848
“What a marvelous take on Thomas Jefferson’s Westward Expansion Movement! In a sense Robert Mogan’s Lions of the West is a sequel to Stephen Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage about Lewis and Clark. Morgan brilliantly showcases such outlandish characters as Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, Johnny Appleseed, Winfield Scott and many others. Morgan proves once again to be an incredible prose stylist. This is a love song to the raw back pages of American frontier democracy. Highly recommended.”
—Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America
“Robert Morgan has found a most engaging way to envision and explain American expansion from early nationhood until the eve of Civil War. Fourscore years come alive through biographical vignettes that pull no punches. The project is meditative rather than celebratory. Hispanic responses to the consequences of Manifest Destiny are made stunningly clear. Nation-building accrued human costs as well as remarkable heroes—all revealed with Morgan’s customary grace and flair. This is engrossing as well as judicious history, narrated by a writer who knows the terrain first hand.”
—Michael Kammen, Pulitzer Prize winning author of People of Paradox and Mystic Chords of Memory
[scribd id=62818351 key=key-8ydq9u10airas6ndhu0 mode=list]
-
Overall Score
Reader Rating: 0 Votes
I adore and appreciate really well-written historical fiction. I would be thrilled to recieve an advance copy of Mr. Morgan’s “Lions of the West!” Thank you in advance! 🙂
The Manifest Destiny story is fascinating in its own right but also important for how it continues to be part of the American psyche. I am looking forward to this book very much.
I would love to win this book for my husband!
Anxious to read this !
Would love a copy! We pass books around our family and devour them!
Thanks for the opportunity!
Morgan’s take on America’s westward expansion should be a interesting read. I look forward to it.
Morgan’s take on America’s westward expansion should be a interesting read. I look forward to it.
Morgan’s take on America’s westward expansion should be a interesting read. I look forward to it.
OOH – just seen your post on twitter… this looks awesome – I would love a copy to review
OOH – just seen your post on twitter… this looks awesome – I would love a copy to review
From Thomas Jefferson’s birth in 1743 to the California Gold rush in 1849, America’s Manifest destiny comes to life in Robert Morgan’s skilled hands. I would love a win for a copy of this book!!! I love well written historical fiction also!!
From Thomas Jefferson’s birth in 1743 to the California Gold rush in 1849, America’s Manifest destiny comes to life in Robert Morgan’s skilled hands. I would love a win for a copy of this book!!! I love well written historical fiction also!!
Would love to get a copy of this for my husband!
Would love to get a copy of this for my husband!
Would love to get a copy of this for my husband!
Ooh, I’m a fan! I’d love to win. 🙂
Ooh, I’m a fan! I’d love to win. 🙂
would love to have a copy of this book…as an avid history buff, seems like a great vacation read.
would love to have a copy of this book…as an avid history buff, seems like a great vacation read.
would love to have a copy of this book…as an avid history buff, seems like a great vacation read.
I’ve been looking forward to this book. It sounds great!
Sounds great. I would love to learn more about this period of American History after reading American Lion.
Sounds great. I would love to learn more about this period of American History after reading American Lion.
Sounds great. I would love to learn more about this period of American History after reading American Lion.
I enjoy imagining how things were during the Westward expansion–what would it really have been like to be one of those pioneers. Can’t wait to read this book and would certainly love to be one of the first!
I enjoy imagining how things were during the Westward expansion–what would it really have been like to be one of those pioneers. Can’t wait to read this book and would certainly love to be one of the first!
This would be a great book to read on my Red Cross deployment.
This would be a great book to read on my Red Cross deployment.
I have been hearing about this book and cannot wait to read it!
I have been hearing about this book and cannot wait to read it!
I have been hearing about this book and cannot wait to read it!
Would love to read/review for my blog, Consuming Books!
If Morgan does the bang up job on this subject that he did on Daniel Boone, count me in!
I would love to win!
I would love to win!
I would love to win!
I am always fascinated by our earlier achievements being that they were more meaningful and important over something superficial like YOU TUBE!
I am always fascinated by our earlier achievements being that they were more meaningful and important over something superficial like YOU TUBE!
I am always fascinated by our earlier achievements being that they were more meaningful and important over something superficial like YOU TUBE!
I told my husband last week we needed to read this book. It looks really good.
I would love to read this book. Please entwer me in your contest. Thank you.
I would love to read this book. Please entwer me in your contest. Thank you.
I would love to read this book. Please entwer me in your contest. Thank you.
After checking out the book and author, it sounds like a very good read.. please do enter me in your contest to win the copy.. I am looking forward to read the book… Thank you….
After checking out the book and author, it sounds like a very good read.. please do enter me in your contest to win the copy.. I am looking forward to read the book… Thank you….
After checking out the book and author, it sounds like a very good read.. please do enter me in your contest to win the copy.. I am looking forward to read the book… Thank you….
An awesome anthology of amazing Americans! A perfect “10” : )
Sounds interesting. I am quite interested in this period of American history and am a great admirer of James K. Polk, so this sounds very appealing.
Sounds interesting. I am quite interested in this period of American history and am a great admirer of James K. Polk, so this sounds very appealing.
Sounds interesting. I am quite interested in this period of American history and am a great admirer of James K. Polk, so this sounds very appealing.
I would love to win a copy of this book. I love a good read!
I would love to win a copy of this book. I love a good read!
I would love a copy of this book!! I collect all things West in reading material, especially history related books. I am a recent transplant to the West and I am trying to catch up on all the history of the region. This looks like a book I will definitely be trying to add to my collection.
I would love a copy of this book!! I collect all things West in reading material, especially history related books. I am a recent transplant to the West and I am trying to catch up on all the history of the region. This looks like a book I will definitely be trying to add to my collection.
I would love to have this book! I enjoy reading about our American history!