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The Englishwoman in America
Cologne (Koln) Konemann Travel Classic, 2000. 4.75" x 7" tall; 376pp with Editors Note.
376 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1856
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272 people want to read
About the author
Isabella Lucy Bird
114 books100 followersIsabella Lucy Bird Bishop (October 15, 1831 – October 7, 1904) was a nineteenth-century English traveller, writer, and a natural historian.
Works:
* The Englishwoman in America (1856)
* Pen and Pencil Sketches Among The Outer Hebrides (published in The Leisure Hour) (1866)
* The Hawaiian Archipelago (1875)
* The Two Atlantics (published in The Leisure Hour) (1876)
* Australia Felix: Impressions of Victoria and Melbourne (published in The Leisure Hour) (1877)
* A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains (1879)
* Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1880)
* Sketches In The Malay Peninsula (published in The Leisure Hour) (1883)
* The Golden Chersonese and the way Thither (1883)
* A Pilgrimage To Sinai (published in The Leisure Hour) (1886)
* Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan (1891)
* Among the Tibetans (1894)
* Korea and her Neighbours (1898)
* The Yangtze Valley and Beyond (1899)
* Chinese Pictures (1900)
* Notes on Morocco (published in the Monthly Review) (1901)
Works:
* The Englishwoman in America (1856)
* Pen and Pencil Sketches Among The Outer Hebrides (published in The Leisure Hour) (1866)
* The Hawaiian Archipelago (1875)
* The Two Atlantics (published in The Leisure Hour) (1876)
* Australia Felix: Impressions of Victoria and Melbourne (published in The Leisure Hour) (1877)
* A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains (1879)
* Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1880)
* Sketches In The Malay Peninsula (published in The Leisure Hour) (1883)
* The Golden Chersonese and the way Thither (1883)
* A Pilgrimage To Sinai (published in The Leisure Hour) (1886)
* Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan (1891)
* Among the Tibetans (1894)
* Korea and her Neighbours (1898)
* The Yangtze Valley and Beyond (1899)
* Chinese Pictures (1900)
* Notes on Morocco (published in the Monthly Review) (1901)
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 9, 2021
Review to come......if I get the energy. Three or four stars, it's hard to choose. Near the end there is a section where the author pontificates a bit too much for me. On what? Morals, sobriety, religion and liberty.
In 1854 Isabell Lucy Bird travels by steamship from Liverpool to Canada, the U.S. and then back again. She travels to Halifax, New Brunswick, Portland in Maine, Albany, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati and takes the Lightning Express to Chicago. She continues to Toronto, Montreal and Quebec. Later--New York City and Boston. She visits Niagara Falls but shies away from tourist attractions, visiting cemeteries, hospitals and squalid living areas. It is interesting to observe her thoughts and what she saw in these cities back in 1854. This was when England was fighting Russia in the Crimean War.
Bird writes of her experiences, what people have told her and what she has learned. She compares the English and the American character. She writes of Canada, then still a British colony. The information is chock full of facts and statistics. I could not help but wonder at times about her sources. She is opinionated. I like this. It gives the writing a personal touch. She mixes facts with personal experiences. She describes the people, their clothing, their mannerisms and the landscape, the last often in lyrical prose. The book is a treasure trove of unusual facts not found in other books.
Free download at Librivox, here: https://librivox.org/the-englishwoman...
Narration by Sibella Denton-- 4 stars, but only if you turn the speed down! You cannot absorb all the information otherwise. The words are clear. French words are mispronounced.
There, there is a short review for you. It explains to readers what lies in store. The pluses and the minuses.
*************************************
*A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains 4 stars
*The Englishwoman in America 3 stars
*Unbeaten Tracks in Japan 3 stars
In 1854 Isabell Lucy Bird travels by steamship from Liverpool to Canada, the U.S. and then back again. She travels to Halifax, New Brunswick, Portland in Maine, Albany, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati and takes the Lightning Express to Chicago. She continues to Toronto, Montreal and Quebec. Later--New York City and Boston. She visits Niagara Falls but shies away from tourist attractions, visiting cemeteries, hospitals and squalid living areas. It is interesting to observe her thoughts and what she saw in these cities back in 1854. This was when England was fighting Russia in the Crimean War.
Bird writes of her experiences, what people have told her and what she has learned. She compares the English and the American character. She writes of Canada, then still a British colony. The information is chock full of facts and statistics. I could not help but wonder at times about her sources. She is opinionated. I like this. It gives the writing a personal touch. She mixes facts with personal experiences. She describes the people, their clothing, their mannerisms and the landscape, the last often in lyrical prose. The book is a treasure trove of unusual facts not found in other books.
Free download at Librivox, here: https://librivox.org/the-englishwoman...
Narration by Sibella Denton-- 4 stars, but only if you turn the speed down! You cannot absorb all the information otherwise. The words are clear. French words are mispronounced.
There, there is a short review for you. It explains to readers what lies in store. The pluses and the minuses.
*************************************
*A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains 4 stars
*The Englishwoman in America 3 stars
*Unbeaten Tracks in Japan 3 stars
January 2, 2016
This book reads like a Christmas family update letter from a distant relative. There are attempts at pithy observation and profundity that come off as sincere, but a bit banal. There are turns of phrase that I can imagine being spoken with that slight hint of self-assessed cleverness that some people exhibit, when talking about themselves in a breathless manner, looking for the approval that affirms just how marvelous they are. And yet, the book has value as a personal view of life in North America in the 1850's and was worth my time for that. Bird is casually racist without any awareness of that fact, but is also genuinely compassionate. She speaks from a position of Christian privilege and superiority, calling the Catholic faith false, while praising her own, without a hint of understanding of the irony. She is supremely judgmental, but also humble in many respects, and clearly loves the travels, and the people who provide for her on the trip. She is very human, and she presents a very human view of the country and its people at that time.
April 24, 2022
Fascinating account of a well-traveled Englishwoman's voyage to Canada and the United States in 1854.
September 8, 2013
What I like the most about the books of Isabella L. Bird is the candor and the honesty in which she describes pretty much everything around her. I don't know whether she really meant her memoirs to be read only by some people she was requested to write by, or whether this was just some kind of "publishing escamotage". Anyway, she narrates in accordance to her cultural (British, educated) and religious (Anglican, I think) views, and doesn't give a second thought about saying that someone she encountered was ugly, stupid, uncivilized, et cetera.
I don't know whether it was commonplace at that time, to write this way. Maybe it was customary, or maybe it wasn't, and she was nonetheless speaking her mind. It's absurd how freedom of speech is contaminated by political correctedness nowadays; people "freely" use all kinds of cursory language and grammatically awful constructions because they feel entitled to, while if someone voices an opinion that is "out of the norm", especially if non compliant to the views of over protected groups, her or she will certainly be subject to innumerable personal attacks. Such mudslingers don't even try to assume the viewpoint of the speaker, who must have some sort of reason in order to voice an impopular opinion. Aren't such personal attacks fundamentally against the concept of freedom of speech?
Back to the book, this was also particularly interesting among Isabella's, because it describes the seeds of the modern North American society. It is amazing how the culture of 150 years ago still lives today. For instance, how political parties try to get hold of the emotional side of voters, or how different religious denomination coexist because self-funded - and sometimes take wrong turns just to get followership and money, or again how practicality and substance is preferred over form and structure in relationships and formal exchanges among people. The pursuit of success even through the wrong means "as long as you don't get caught" was already commonplace at that time. Isabella also stresses how the structure of the US society in particular, from the Government to the media, was prone to the tyranny if the masses - which has in fact become reality with the passage of time. All is explained with a good dose of wit, as per her usual style.
The LibriVox edition is very clearly read, although it could use some more pauses between paragraphs.
I don't know whether it was commonplace at that time, to write this way. Maybe it was customary, or maybe it wasn't, and she was nonetheless speaking her mind. It's absurd how freedom of speech is contaminated by political correctedness nowadays; people "freely" use all kinds of cursory language and grammatically awful constructions because they feel entitled to, while if someone voices an opinion that is "out of the norm", especially if non compliant to the views of over protected groups, her or she will certainly be subject to innumerable personal attacks. Such mudslingers don't even try to assume the viewpoint of the speaker, who must have some sort of reason in order to voice an impopular opinion. Aren't such personal attacks fundamentally against the concept of freedom of speech?
Back to the book, this was also particularly interesting among Isabella's, because it describes the seeds of the modern North American society. It is amazing how the culture of 150 years ago still lives today. For instance, how political parties try to get hold of the emotional side of voters, or how different religious denomination coexist because self-funded - and sometimes take wrong turns just to get followership and money, or again how practicality and substance is preferred over form and structure in relationships and formal exchanges among people. The pursuit of success even through the wrong means "as long as you don't get caught" was already commonplace at that time. Isabella also stresses how the structure of the US society in particular, from the Government to the media, was prone to the tyranny if the masses - which has in fact become reality with the passage of time. All is explained with a good dose of wit, as per her usual style.
The LibriVox edition is very clearly read, although it could use some more pauses between paragraphs.
September 16, 2010
Did you ever wonder what life was like in America pre-civil war? Isabella Bird is a young Englishwoman traveling in the north-eastern United States and Canada in the 1850s. The book is packed with information - every detail of life, traveling, education, industry, medicine, shopping, entertainment, etc. It is written almost textbook style - no character development - she barely mentions traveling companions - but her opinion is in every page. There is nothing politically correct about her, but intelligent, humorous, and observant - a truly great informative read!
July 11, 2010
The book offers the perspective of North America from--just what the titles says--an Englishwoman, and her observations are very interesting with its comparisons to her own Britain as well as revealing of her own background and class consciousness. After a while, it did become rather wearisome with her parallels between the two countries and moralizing. It was written in the 1850s, but offers a glimpse into a time and place.
October 23, 2010
Miss Bird traveled through eastern Canada and the United States as a young twenty-something woman in 1854. She wrote extensive observations on society, Atlantic steam-ship travel, hotels, politics, religion, the scenery, and every other thing that caught her eye or engaged her thinking. Her observations are candid and definitely not what we would call politically correct. An interesting look at pre-Civil War America.
April 5, 2023
This was a really quite interesting read, although you have to brace yourself for the shocking feelings and opinions she has of the black Americans she encounters, despite the intellectual arguments she expounds against enslavement, a subject she returns to a number of times. Equally shocking are her views of Roman Catholics and “the Irish” in particular. The author relentlessly makes degrading comments about Irish immigrants, not missing one single opportunity to tell the reader how much she despises them and their religion. The pictures she paints of being a tourist in the 1850s is fascinating, and the emerging towns, cities and communications (ie, boats, trains, horse drawn vehicles) between them is really well described. She is impressively intrepid pinging from one acquaintance’s home to another, accompanied by assorted (mostly anonymous) companions, or sometimes alone, with only letters of introduction to pave her way into being accommodated by an assortment of the “middle” to “top” of society. (I’d love to know how her hosts felt about her suddenly appearing on their doorsteps expecting a bed! Most of the time I pictured her as a bit like Fanny from UK “Ghosts” tv programme.) I’d liked to have had more detail about domestic everyday occurrences and less exhaustive statistics about every aspect of American and Canadian life (eg, pages and pages of details like “In Upper Canada there are 1559 churches, for 952,000 adherents, being one place of worship for every 612 inhabitants.” - great for footnotes, but makes for tedious narrative.) The author’s dry statements of fact in the face of quite terrifying near shipwrecks and the like really do make it worth the effort of ploughing through fair chunks of uninteresting detail. Finally, for me, (despite the only 2 stars) it was worth reading because it highlights a moment in time that gives a bit of insight into some aspects of where the US has come from, and just how different it is from the UK.
October 20, 2022
Pretty racist and outdated at times, but some wonderful language and hyperbole
Bird writes of the endless tide of Western emigration in America, fretted with the ceaseless cries of 'Go Ahead!' and 'move on!'
Bird writes of the endless tide of Western emigration in America, fretted with the ceaseless cries of 'Go Ahead!' and 'move on!'
April 23, 2025
Oh, this is going to be a tough one. I have just finished “My First Travels in North America” by Isabella L. Bird, which has also been published under the name “The Englishwoman in America”. I have read many of her books, and have enjoyed most of them greatly. Isabella Bird was a British lady who was told by her doctor that she needed to travel for her health, and travel she did! She was the first woman to be inducted into the Royal Geographic Society. I have read books of her travels in Persia, Kurdistan, Japan, Hawaii, and more. I believe this is her first book, written about her first trip, by herself, when she was 22 years old, in 1854.
One of the things that I have admired about Isabella Bird, is that no matter the difficulties, she relays them as facts, but not as complaints. However, this book often had a rather complaining tone. It makes me think that her ongoing adventures made her either tougher, or just less apt to complain. Trust me, the travel conditions were absolutely awful. Also, she tends to give a more understanding look at the different cultures around her in the later books. Again, in this book she can be quite judgmental. I found her following statement, made at the age of 22, to be a little humorous: “The facility with which English books are reprinted in America, and the immense circulation which they attain in consequence of their cheapness, greatly increased the responsibility which rests upon our authors as to the direction which they give, whether for good or evil, to the intelligent and inquiring minds of the youth of America—minds ceaselessly occupied, both in religion and politics, in investigation and inquiry—IN OVERTURNING OLD SYSTEMS BEFORE THEY HAVE DEVISED NEW ONES.” [Emphasis mine]
The FIRST and MOST IMPORTANT thing (yes, to the importance of all caps) is to remember this is an historical book, and we MUST NOT judge it by the views and mores of our time. Miss Bird was quite advanced in her thoughts on society, FOR HER TIME. If you’re going to get your panties in a twist over plainly stated things from that era (role of women, view of religious expression, descriptions of other cultures including native Americans and slaves) this is NOT the book for you.
Considering slavery, she was vocally and vehemently against the ownership of other humans, and gave a great deal of space in directing her ire toward that evil institution, particularly in a country where “freedom” was tantamount. “Few English people will forget the impression made upon them by the first sight of a slave—a being created in the image of God, yet the bonâ fide property of his fellow-man.” She believes that the growing wealth of the northern states versus the general malaise of the southern ones to be directly related to two things, weather and slavery, with the primary reason being slavery. She also spent a great deal of time talking about her doubts that our country could survive with slavery in some states, and this a good seven years before the start of the civil war!
It was continually fascinating to me that this book was written BEFORE the civil war by seven years, and only relatively shortly after the founding of America as a nation in its own right, about 78 years. In this short time there were cities, towns, publications, schools, railroads, telegraph lines, and so much more. She was continually astonished at the industriousness and inventiveness of the people of North America (to some extent in Canada, and moreso in the United States), and admired many things about Americans. Here’s one we can all pine after: “No system of direct taxation is adopted in the States, except for local purposes.” Sigh.
Her style of writing is descriptive, and often elicits a bit of humor. On a particularly rough ocean voyage “This cabin was very prettily arranged, but the movements of things were rather erratic, and my valise gave most disagreeable manifestations of spiritual agency.” After her trek under Niagara Falls to “Termination Rock”: “On the whole, this achievement is pleasanter in the remembrance than in the act.” On some rather coarse entertainment and dancing: “…I cannot say that they tripped it on the light fantastic toe…” After her ship’s collision with a brig, “…which event caused a chorus of screams from some ladies whose voices were rather stronger than their nerves…” Just a sampling.
One thing of interest to me was that Miss Bird spent some time in the company of the early American literary stars, including one of my husband’s forebearers, the poet James Russell Lowell. In fact, she was convinced that Lowell would eclipse Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s fame, with whom she also spent some time in Boston. I bet you have all heard of Longfellow, but not so much Lowell.
In this book, Miss Bird spends a GREAT deal of tedious time describing minutia such as the makeup of the school system (greatly admired), how many teachers, where they are taught, how many schoolchildren of what types there are, how many board-feet of lumber is process and moved by what methods, that a shoemaker factory uses 5000 pounds of boot-nails per annum, the costs of every possible industry, how many people attend churches of what types which originated in what way. For instance, in the chapter on politics (pretty boring to me): “There are political parties under the names of Whigs, Democrats, Know-nothings, Freesoilers, Fusionists, Hunkers, Wooly-heads, Dough-faces, Hard-shells, Soft-shells, Silver-greys, and I know not what besides; all of them extremely puzzling to the stranger, but of great local significance.” And we thought politics nowadays was confusing? Or how about this list of religious sects: “Among 100 different denominations which are returned in the census tables, the following designations occur: Mormonites, Antiburgers, Believers in God, Children of Peace, Disunionists; Danian, Democratic Gospel, and Ebenezer Socialists; Free Inquirers, Inspired Church, Millerites, Menonites, New Lights, Perfectionists [they have a religion?], Pathonites, Pantheists, Tunkards, Restorationists, Superalists, Cosmopolites, and hosts of others.” These are in addition to the lists of mainstream religions with numbers of members, numbers of clergy, and where their funding is from. She is astonished that the government does not fund religion in America.
Overall, she found much to admire in the United States and Canada. If you’re interested in this time period, you might enjoy this book; I enjoyed most of it, except for the tedious bits. If you have not read Isabella Bird before, I would highly recommend you start with “A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains” and move on from there through some of her other books. Of all the books I’ve read, I found this the least accessible, followed closely by “Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan”.
Giving this a star rating is difficult. Five stars for history, three stars for enjoyment, I’ll average it at four stars with a solid warning that this is history, and is sometimes unpalatable to the mores of today.
One of the things that I have admired about Isabella Bird, is that no matter the difficulties, she relays them as facts, but not as complaints. However, this book often had a rather complaining tone. It makes me think that her ongoing adventures made her either tougher, or just less apt to complain. Trust me, the travel conditions were absolutely awful. Also, she tends to give a more understanding look at the different cultures around her in the later books. Again, in this book she can be quite judgmental. I found her following statement, made at the age of 22, to be a little humorous: “The facility with which English books are reprinted in America, and the immense circulation which they attain in consequence of their cheapness, greatly increased the responsibility which rests upon our authors as to the direction which they give, whether for good or evil, to the intelligent and inquiring minds of the youth of America—minds ceaselessly occupied, both in religion and politics, in investigation and inquiry—IN OVERTURNING OLD SYSTEMS BEFORE THEY HAVE DEVISED NEW ONES.” [Emphasis mine]
The FIRST and MOST IMPORTANT thing (yes, to the importance of all caps) is to remember this is an historical book, and we MUST NOT judge it by the views and mores of our time. Miss Bird was quite advanced in her thoughts on society, FOR HER TIME. If you’re going to get your panties in a twist over plainly stated things from that era (role of women, view of religious expression, descriptions of other cultures including native Americans and slaves) this is NOT the book for you.
Considering slavery, she was vocally and vehemently against the ownership of other humans, and gave a great deal of space in directing her ire toward that evil institution, particularly in a country where “freedom” was tantamount. “Few English people will forget the impression made upon them by the first sight of a slave—a being created in the image of God, yet the bonâ fide property of his fellow-man.” She believes that the growing wealth of the northern states versus the general malaise of the southern ones to be directly related to two things, weather and slavery, with the primary reason being slavery. She also spent a great deal of time talking about her doubts that our country could survive with slavery in some states, and this a good seven years before the start of the civil war!
It was continually fascinating to me that this book was written BEFORE the civil war by seven years, and only relatively shortly after the founding of America as a nation in its own right, about 78 years. In this short time there were cities, towns, publications, schools, railroads, telegraph lines, and so much more. She was continually astonished at the industriousness and inventiveness of the people of North America (to some extent in Canada, and moreso in the United States), and admired many things about Americans. Here’s one we can all pine after: “No system of direct taxation is adopted in the States, except for local purposes.” Sigh.
Her style of writing is descriptive, and often elicits a bit of humor. On a particularly rough ocean voyage “This cabin was very prettily arranged, but the movements of things were rather erratic, and my valise gave most disagreeable manifestations of spiritual agency.” After her trek under Niagara Falls to “Termination Rock”: “On the whole, this achievement is pleasanter in the remembrance than in the act.” On some rather coarse entertainment and dancing: “…I cannot say that they tripped it on the light fantastic toe…” After her ship’s collision with a brig, “…which event caused a chorus of screams from some ladies whose voices were rather stronger than their nerves…” Just a sampling.
One thing of interest to me was that Miss Bird spent some time in the company of the early American literary stars, including one of my husband’s forebearers, the poet James Russell Lowell. In fact, she was convinced that Lowell would eclipse Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s fame, with whom she also spent some time in Boston. I bet you have all heard of Longfellow, but not so much Lowell.
In this book, Miss Bird spends a GREAT deal of tedious time describing minutia such as the makeup of the school system (greatly admired), how many teachers, where they are taught, how many schoolchildren of what types there are, how many board-feet of lumber is process and moved by what methods, that a shoemaker factory uses 5000 pounds of boot-nails per annum, the costs of every possible industry, how many people attend churches of what types which originated in what way. For instance, in the chapter on politics (pretty boring to me): “There are political parties under the names of Whigs, Democrats, Know-nothings, Freesoilers, Fusionists, Hunkers, Wooly-heads, Dough-faces, Hard-shells, Soft-shells, Silver-greys, and I know not what besides; all of them extremely puzzling to the stranger, but of great local significance.” And we thought politics nowadays was confusing? Or how about this list of religious sects: “Among 100 different denominations which are returned in the census tables, the following designations occur: Mormonites, Antiburgers, Believers in God, Children of Peace, Disunionists; Danian, Democratic Gospel, and Ebenezer Socialists; Free Inquirers, Inspired Church, Millerites, Menonites, New Lights, Perfectionists [they have a religion?], Pathonites, Pantheists, Tunkards, Restorationists, Superalists, Cosmopolites, and hosts of others.” These are in addition to the lists of mainstream religions with numbers of members, numbers of clergy, and where their funding is from. She is astonished that the government does not fund religion in America.
Overall, she found much to admire in the United States and Canada. If you’re interested in this time period, you might enjoy this book; I enjoyed most of it, except for the tedious bits. If you have not read Isabella Bird before, I would highly recommend you start with “A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains” and move on from there through some of her other books. Of all the books I’ve read, I found this the least accessible, followed closely by “Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan”.
Giving this a star rating is difficult. Five stars for history, three stars for enjoyment, I’ll average it at four stars with a solid warning that this is history, and is sometimes unpalatable to the mores of today.
September 29, 2012
Miss Bird has a pleasant style. However, it is important to remember the time in which she wrote. What is interesting about observers from the past like MissBird and Tocqueville, is that America hasn't changed much. We will always be the people pushed out of decent society. This is our glory.
December 5, 2017
1854 bears resemblance to 2017!
A fascinating look into the mid 19th century in the States and Colonies (Canada.) Our pride of country, xenophobia, partisan politics, and immersion in news (fake and otherwise) have been with us since the beginning it seems.
A fascinating look into the mid 19th century in the States and Colonies (Canada.) Our pride of country, xenophobia, partisan politics, and immersion in news (fake and otherwise) have been with us since the beginning it seems.
August 15, 2012
About Canada as well and the east and mid0east states.
March 25, 2020
My husband read this to me. The first of the author’s books, she sure has a lot to say on many topics, and makes one smile (or cringe) with some of her social commentary. However, she has a great eye for detail and writes beautifully even about the more mundane things she sees - an essential trait of a travel writer. She is genuinely impressed with Americans, and writes with admiration and approval of once-great American cities, some of which have now fallen on much harder times. It is fascinating to read about Albany and Cincinnati in their heyday. Amazingly, over-tourism was a problem as early as the 1850s, which put its current plight into perspective. This was our second book by the author, and certainly won’t be the last. Isabella Bird was a formidable woman, and an excellent travel writer.
October 17, 2020
Pretty interesting travelogue of the United States and Canada written by an Englishwoman in the mid-1850s. Being written by an Englishwoman in the 1850s, the prejudice toward the Irish and Catholicism is quite strong, to the point of comical. Good stuff on steamboats, in particular crossing Lake Ontario by steamboat during dangerous storms, railroad travel and the often uncomfortable wagons she journeyed in upon poorly maintained roads. Also excellent descriptions of the places she visited in Canada and the United States to include Quebec, Cincinnati, New York City, Boston, Montreal, Niagara Falls, the Great Lakes, and the St Lawrence River.
July 24, 2020
Impressions of American and Canadian cities, people and customs by a proper English woman in the 1850’s. Isabella Bird was adventurous, observant and unafraid. She describes life for privileged people and others in the pre-Civil War period. A much different view of life than we find in other history books.
September 28, 2020
This was mostly an interesting travel book of the 1850's and I enjoyed the first 2/3 of the book. Then the author got bogged down in giving her personal opinions on everything OTHER THAN the things she saw or experienced and it got tedious.
October 9, 2017
Didn't enjoy this one as much as Rocky Mountains.
February 7, 2019
Keeping in mind this was one of Bird's first works, it's no wonder I liked the later ones better. This one, however, was not bad at all, if only a bit boring and way too detailed at times.
February 12, 2019
Very interesting mid 19th century view of Canada and the USA from the stand point of an Englishwoman.
August 9, 2024
As a history major, I read a lot of primary material (diaries, letters, etc.) in my research. This little book reminded me how much I enjoy first-hand accounts. Bird's accounting of emigrant life is insightful, technical, at times entertaining, and consistently informative. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
July 23, 2013
What a wonderfully written book! Author Isabella L. Bird gives such exact and beautiful descriptions of what she sees, all you need do is close your eyes and the images appear. Made me feel as though I was her traveling companion.:-) I wish ....
If you enjoy historic nonfiction you'll enjoy this well written tale of travel (in the 1850's). Written with a direct flow, no holding back about what she thinks about things.
Whether you agree with her musings or not, this book is definitely worth reading. Miss Bird was a brave woman, diving in and ready for her next adventure sharing her wit, wisdom and humor.
This is my first experience with this author but I will surely read this again and her other books as well.
If you enjoy historic nonfiction you'll enjoy this well written tale of travel (in the 1850's). Written with a direct flow, no holding back about what she thinks about things.
Whether you agree with her musings or not, this book is definitely worth reading. Miss Bird was a brave woman, diving in and ready for her next adventure sharing her wit, wisdom and humor.
This is my first experience with this author but I will surely read this again and her other books as well.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews