The American Heritage Book of the Pioneer Spirit

by Richard M. Ketchum (editor), Allan Nevins (prologues)

Introduction
Beyond the horizon / Francis Russell
The European Image of America
Footholds of the forest / Francis Russell
Americans emerge / Francis Russell
Building a nation / Francis Russell
Portrait of the eastern frontier
Across the Mississippi / Alvin M. Josephy, Jr
A manifest destiny / Alvin M. Josephy, Jr
The promised land
Showing the world / Peter Lyon
On to utopia / Peter Lyon
A tinkering people / Peter Lyon
Conquest of a continent / Alvin M. Josephy, Jr
Portrait of the western frontier
The strenuous life / Peter Lyon
Acknowledgments
Index

Genres: History

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

A graduate of Yale, Richard Ketchum was a writer and editor who worked for the American Heritage Publishing Company from 1956 until 1974.

Reviews

[Corgi Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, I'm really enjoying this book. I came across American Heritage History of the Pioneer Spirit on Amazon and decided to buy it. As I've gotten older, I've become more interested in American history. This book is an overall view of certain people and situations that happened in the past and how it affected the United States. It's basically an overview of events and people that shaped our nation and events both large and small. It doesn't spend a lot of time on each subject, but so what? From what the book contains, you can do further research elsewhere. It certainly whets your appetite to discover more about the events that happened in the past and the people involved. I even read things about events and people I'd never heard of before. A fascinating book.

[Jeff Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, but it wasn't what I expected. My expectation was reading more about the Oregon and Santa Fe trails. There was new interesting information i didn't know. When they talked about inventions, nothing was said about Thomas Edison and very little about Ford. I felt the history was a bit spotty and tended to be shaped to turn the opinion of the reader. Could have used some more review.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have owned this book since it was published; received a subscription to American Heritage Magazine the year before (1958). Have scanned all illustrations and related captions over the years and probably read most of the text. A very useful overview of the topic. Use as reference now.

[Belle Meade School]

973

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disjointed. Shallow.