The Way People Live - Life on the American Frontier - Hardcover

Kallen, Stuart A.; Allen, Stuart A.

9781560063667: The Way People Live - Life on the American Frontier

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1560063661 ISBN 13: 9781560063667

Publisher: Lucent Books, 1998

Homesteaders, railroad workers, cowboys, and others ventured across America's western frontier. There they encountered the native peoples who had already settled the region.

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Review:

"Information is presented clearly, with a nice selection of interesting detail to illustrate points and a generous sprinkling of footnotes. Numerous black-and-white illustrations include period engravings, documents, paintings, and photographs of artifacts. Photographs showing modern reenactments are clearly labeled. This resource is a solid addition to the existing body of literature."
-- School Library Journal (September 2001) (School Library Journal 20010901)

"The material is presented objectively and provides welcome insights."
-- School Library Journal (January 2002) (School Library Journal 20020101)

"The text is richly flavored with quotes as well. Attractive black-and-white photographs and reproductions illustrate the text. This volume provides a thrilling ride."
-- School Library Journal (August 2001) (School Library Journal 20010801)

"Black-and-white reproductions and maps provide points of reference. Sidebars offer tidbits of interesting information about events, people...This well-organized, slim volume provides many facts for reports."
-- School Library Journal (August 2001) (School Library Journal 20010801)

"The author's lively, well-researched narrative details the structure of the culture. This volume..will be a useful addition for units on ancient civilization."
-- School Library Journal (June 2001) (School Library Journal 20010601)

"An exemplary series entry, this volume does a thorough and realistic job of portraying the realities and horrors...Pertinent primary-source quotations and sidebars permeate the text and are noted in citations. Captioned pictures are scattered throughout. A useful resource for history reports and projects."
-- School Library Journal (May 2001) (School Library Journal 20010501)

From School Library Journal:

Gr 5-8-Kallen's lively and informative text is full of the kinds of material students need for social-studies assignments. Beginning with a brief chapter that explains how the American "frontier" was an ever-moving one, the author goes on to focus on the various groups that had a role in "settling the West"-the trailblazers, the mountain men, the miners, the railroad men, the sodbusters, and the cattlemen-and the people they displaced, the Native Americans. The thematically arranged chapters blend interesting narratives of famous figures with detailed examinations of the hardships and pleasures of everyday life, including frequent quotations from writings of the period. Unfortunately, the layout is reminiscent of textbooks, with double-columned text and exclusively black-and-white illustrations, but the annotated list for further reading and endnotes will aid students. There are a few other shortcomings. Kallen inexplicably shaves two years off each end of Daniel Boone's life, and he falls prey to the apparently endemic confusion about when areas that later became part of the American Southwest and West should be referred to as Spanish and when Mexican. (The watershed year is 1821). Also, the author's assessment that Native American moral and religious beliefs were "far more rigorous than [those of] the average pioneer" is a value judgment. Even so, Life on the American Frontier moves at a brisk pace, contains a wealth of accurate details, and provides a broad-based overview of a diverse and complicated period.-Coop Renner, Coldwell Elementary-Intermediate School, El Paso, TX

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