Jefferson's America

The President, the Purchase, and the Explorers Who Transformed a Nation

By: Julie M. Fenster

Narrated by: John Pruden

Jefferson's America sheds new light on one of the key aspects of Jefferson's presidency. Almost everyone who has taken a US history course is familiar with Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase and the travels of Lewis and Clark, but that's not where this formative episode in American history begins or ends. In fact Jefferson sent four other expeditions west. Zebulon Pike was dispatched on two missions: first to the headwaters of the Mississippi and second toward what is now Colorado. William Dunbar and Dr. George Hunter explored Northern Louisiana and Arkansas. Peter Custis and Thomas Freeman (with military officer Richard Sparks) followed the Red River of North Texas and Oklahoma.

The stakes for American expansion were enormously high - at a time when Britain, France, and Spain were also all vying for control of the vast expanse of land west of the Mississippi River, the geopolitics of discovery were paramount. Jefferson, a true student of the Enlightenment, sought out men of science to undertake these urgent missions into the frontier. But they weren't always well matched - with each other or even with the task of exploring itself. Tensions between Dunbar and Hunter in particular threatened to undermine Jefferson's progress, leaving the United States in danger of losing its foothold in the West.

No previous book has ever attempted to sort out and simultaneously pull together Jefferson's age of exploration. The individual stories here are gripping - equally ambitious and death defying - making for a great, suspenseful narrative, while the story as a whole offers listeners a broader look than has ever been given of the era of American exploration.

©2016 Julie M. Fenster. Recorded by arrangement with Crown, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Do not panic

Would you listen to Jefferson's America again? Why?

Yes. A ton of info to be digested.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hunter. He threw himself into the wilds without really being prepared.

What does John Pruden bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He is a great narrator whose voice helps to clarify all the overlapping historical activity.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Would you think for a second to do ANY Of this???

Any additional comments?

Some people say they have trouble following. The key to reading this book are key names: Jefferson, Hunter, Dunbar, Lewis, Clark, Freeman, Pike, CUstis, Wilkinson. And throw in some characters from Spain and France. A very good read.

Good Story

Lots of new history to me about Jefferson and exploration of the Louisiana Purchase, the machinations of General Wilkinson and Aaron Burr and confrontations with the Spanish. I had read about the Red River exploration but not Zebulon Pike's journey up the Mississippi or the exploration of the Ouachita.

The comparisons of the explorers' management of their individual expeditions and dealings with the personnel is very well told and quite informative. The narrator is OK, but tends to run sentences together without pausing. It was difficult to follow the story sometimes as a result.

Just the tale of Pike and his trail of bloody snowshoes to the source of the Mississippi is worth the read!