Shovel Of Stars: The Making of the American West 1800 to the Present - Softcover

Morgan, Ted

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0684814927 ISBN 13: 9780684814926

Publisher: Touchstone, 1996

Synopsis

This vivid, panoramic history continues the exciting story begun in Wilderness at Dawn, tracing through the eyes--and adventures--of ordinary people the saga of the settlement of the United States. "Embraces the texture and the drama of the West in all its heartbreak and heroism".--Booklist. Photos & maps.

About this title

From Booklist:

The accolades for Morgan's engaging rendition of the frontier epic, Wilderness at Dawn (1993), heightened anticipation for this sequel, and the high expectations are fully vindicated. Along with the textbook events, from Lewis and Clark's discoveries to the massacre at Wounded Knee, Morgan recounts the lives of average, unheralded people who are characteristic of the various frontiers. Florida, for example, was impenetrable to white settlement as long as the Seminoles resisted and offered haven to escaped slaves; Morgan shows the dynamic of the ensuing war (1835-42) through the doings of Abraham, an escaped house slave who helped lead the Seminoles. Another amazing black man, on the Illinois frontier, was the enterprising figure of "Free Frank," as his name appeared in the 1820 census. He made enough money to buy his own freedom and that of several relatives and established his own town (now vanished) on the prairie. Such figures abound in Morgan's captivating narrative, organized around each state's (after the original 13) rambunctious territorial years. Winding up with the admission to the Union of Alaska, this grandly inspired work--a completely satisfying read--embraces the texture and the drama of the West in all its heartbreak and heroism. Gilbert Taylor

From Publishers Weekly:

In this sequel to Wilderness at Dawn, which chronicled the settling of the U.S. and the making of the first 13 states, Morgan continues his history from below, offering engaging sketches and anecdotes about ordinary folk in the remaining 37 states. Warning: the subtitle misleads; in each chapter, Morgan concludes with the establishment of a state; thus only the Alaska chapter touches on the present. Moreover, no chapter is close to comprehensive, nor does the book engage in any debates about our history. Given that, this is a good complement to conventional histories and a fine book for browsing: The characters are pioneers of pluck and, sometimes, ugliness; the disenfranchised, often Native Americans but also blacks, are both opponents and sometimes pioneers themselves. There are scenes of trading parties, seat-of-the-pants justice, medicine shows and mixing between such ostensibly disparate groups as Mormons and Navajos. And there are innovators, who proposed Manifest Destiny, brought postal service to the California gold mines, invented the refrigerated rail car and figured out how to can Hawaiian pineapple. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Touchstone
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0684814927
• ISBN 13: 9780684814926
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 560