North American Exploration

by John Stewart Bowman

A comprehensive, highly readable reference

This is an authoritative, one-stop resource for essential information on the exploration of North America, from alleged pre-Columbian explorers to polar expeditions in the twentieth century. Completely up-to-date in content and historical approach, the book is divided into seven sections, each covering a major area of exploration. Vivid, narrative entries bring to life early expeditions (e.g., African and Scandinavian voyages, real and apocryphal), voyages of European explorers, Western expeditions, and explorations of the Arctic. From the Atlantic seaboard to the Appalachians to the Mississippi to the northernmost regions, readers will discover the Native nations, geographical features, private and governmental institutions, and settlements that played a role in the history of exploring the continent. Maps, photos, and sidebars with lively first-person accounts from contemporary diaries, reports, and news accounts round out this thorough examination of the numerous adventures taken around the continent.

Michael Golay has published five books on American history, including most recently The Ruined Land. He lives in Exeter, New Hampshire.
John Bowman is the Editor of the Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography and numerous other reference works. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Genres: History

528 pages, Unknown Binding

First published May 30, 2003

About the author

John Stewart Bowman was an American author and librettist. He received a B.A. in English literature from Harvard University and attended Trinity College, Cambridge University, and the University of Munich. Bowman worked as an editor for more than 40 years and as a freelance writer for almost as long.

Reviews

[Julianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This serves as a good introduction to important individuals, expeditions and terms coined during Northwest exploration from the 15th Century (even before) to the 1990s. I found Part IV ("Exploring West of the Mississippi 1635-800") and Part V ("From the Appalachians to the Mississippi 1540-1840") the most useful, especially given the obscurity of various Spanish explorers that predated American Manifest Destiny.

I would not rely on this book alone for learning about the West however, as some key details contradict with other books on the west I am reading. However it is an encyclopedia of figures, terms and events from the West that would be difficult to gather on one's own.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mini-encyclopedia concerning the explorers, groups, and regions involved in the exploration of North America covering the period from pre-Columbus to modern times. It is alphabetized and contains a bibliography broken down by content unit. The entries are brief and there are some illustrations. This work is a fair starting point on the subject.

[Johns · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect reference book for the armchair explorer! This details every major exploration attempt to or across the North American continent. Over 500 interesting pages of information.