2.5 There were parts I enjoyed, but parts that were flitting all over the place. I have been to Marietta, many times. Love it there, so it was interesting to see how it was named. Also the settling of parts of the country I had never read before. Strange to think that when my state, Illinois was admitted into the union in 1818, the total population was only 36,000. Enjoyed the ending parts with John Quincy Adams, that was touching. As a cohesive whole though, I found it lacking. There were so ma...

This book is infuriating. The fact that books that are so blatantly offensive towards Indigenous people can still be published in 2019 is disgusting. This book ignores decades of scholarship by Native and allied historians of the region in favor of nationalist propaganda. Skip this and read Susan Sleeper-Smith's book Indigenous Prosperity and American Conquest instead, which covers the Ohio River valley in a similar time period and argues that far from being a "primeval wilderness," this region

The summer is heating up; school is finally out, and for me that means reading a variety of books about Americana and what makes the country a great place to live. I have lived in Ohio for nearly twelve years and admittedly know little about the state’s history besides the unit my kids study in fourth grade social studies. They do have an excellent teacher, but what they study in grammar school barely scratches the surface of Ohio history. When I found out that master American storyteller David

Going into this book with little information, I picked it up based on the merits of David McCullough’s earlier books. From the start, I was immediately struck by its excessive quantity of detail, the multitude of individuals referred to and that the prose did not flow well. I went to Simon & Schuster’s book website, searching for clarity: “Pulitzer Prize–winning historian David McCullough rediscovers an important and dramatic chapter in the American story—the settling of the Northwest Territory

“The Northwest Ordinance was designed to guarantee what would one day be known as the American way of life.”One reads a David McCullough book because one knows they are going to learn about people who shaped our world, but whose stories don’t make the textbooks. People like the remarkable Ephraim Cutler. A man who is almost single handily responsible for slavery never entering the Ohio Territory!“The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers who Brought the American Ideal West” is not as good a...

I've long been a fan of David McCullough, having read and enjoyed four of his earlier books. This book, however, was a great disappointment. Rather than bringing history to life with the vivid descriptions and crisp writing style for which he's so well respected, McCullough takes the path of least resistance by liberally stringing together quotes drawn from a trove of original sources. As a result the book lacks cohesion and is, quite frankly, dull.

David McCullough always writes appealing books and this one (read from an eARC provided by Edelweiss) does not disappoint. I've always learned from his books but this one was on a subject that I was not at all acquainted with: the first American settlements in the Ohio territory. I knew that the Ohio territory was the first 'west' that Americans went flocking to but no other details and I even ended up hauling out an atlas so I could figure out where exactly these first pioneers settled. Unlike

David McCullough is back with another of his interesting tomes on American history, this time turning to some of the early settlers. In this piece, McCullough explores those who ventured outside the original thirteen states to explore the newly opened and vast territories of the Midwest. Armed with the passion to explore, these men sought to develop a way of life not seen on these lands before, encountering much in the wilderness, from well-established Indian settlements to countless animals who...

Unfortunately, especially in this day and age, people want their beliefs and their political messages/rhetoric justified in every book they read (or don't read for that matter). The reviews/ratings for this book will surely reflect that, since revisiting well known early Americans and their roles in Native American treatment and slavery are hot topics today. Westward expansion hits on both topics.McCullough has never pandered to this political crowd (on either side), and this book is no differen...

David McCullough is one of my favorite historians. He won two Pulitzer Prizes in 1993 and 2002 for his biographies of Truman and John Adams. The book starts out discussing the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, but the majority of the book follows a number of families who settle the North Bank of the Ohio River. The book is well writing and researched. McCullough provides an excellent description of the Ohio River, forests and mountains of the west. The time frame of the book is from 1787 to about 186...

This book tells the story of the settlement of Ohio, focusing primarily on the history of Marietta, Ohio, established by the first pioneers arriving in the country west of Pennsylvania and North of the Ohio River. This may not sound like much breadth of scope for a David McCullough book, and some reviewers have faulted the book and the author for precisely this reason. However, McCullough is not only a great historian, but such a talented educator and gifted storyteller that I found this to be o...

Objectively this is a good book but it disappointed me. Since it did disappoint me I should be giving it two stars instead of three but my disappointment might be somewhat unfair and subjective so I give it three in recognition of my failings and not the author's. When this book's publication was being promoted it caught my immediate attention. McCullough is certainly no lightweight historian and the subject of the Northwest Territory and its early settlers was an intriguing subject. I read Alla...

It’s always a treat to have a new David McCullough book! In The Pioneers, he tells the story of the early settlers of the Ohio River Valley, from those who first moved to the frontier and broke land to those who created communities and governing bodies. While the story he tells is specific, focusing on particular families and the region that is now Marietta, Ohio, it gave me a great sense of the changes and movements of those early years of 19th century-America – and how they were linked to our

I'm a fan of David McCullough, and this book confirms my attraction. He's a well-researched historian and a skillful writer and storyteller. Here, in newly independent United States of America, some farsighted, brave people decided they ought to expand the country west, along the Ohio River. With enthusiasm and determination they do it. But there's more than chopping down trees and planting corn. They brought their 'New England' values with them to the territory that would become Ohio, particula...

This is really a 4.5I loved this. My home state and it's establishment. I loved following the characters from early settlement up to the Civil War. I enjoyed following the Cutler family, in particular.I took a half star off because there was one missing major piece, in my opinion. Set in the early 1800s, the Second Great Awakening and the Circuit Riders would have been very important in the early settlement and I was disappointed that this part of the establishment of Ohio was neglected.Overall,...

David McCullough is an excellent writer and this book, like all of his books, is well written. It describes the American expansion into the Ohio including the settlements and ultimately the attention to making sure public education was a priority. The descriptions of the landscape and the harrowing journey was enlightening and kept my attention. The focus was also on a lot of lesser known people in history in order to bring to light their sacrifice and challenges as they forged west.

David McCullough is a master storyteller and it shows in The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West. While it may not be as great as John Adams or Truman it is nonetheless a great story that provides insight into a part of American history that I knew little about.It covers the 1787 - 1863 time period and is the story of the settling of the Northwest Territory. The area containing the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The s...

OK, I nearly tossed my cookies more than once while listening to the very long and very graphic description of the Big Bottom Massacre....I don't remember learning this in my 4th grade lessons on the history of OhioOther than that, the book was interesting but I remember now why I didn't major in History in college.