The Overmountain Men

Tennessee Frontier Trilogy #1

by Cameron Judd

The first volume in The Tennessee Frontier Trilogy, The Overmountain Men traces the settlement of the Tennessee frontier in pre -- Revolutionary War America. A fascinating story and an inspiring record of the courage of the colonists.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Westerns, War, Historical

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Cameron Judd (AKA: Tobias Cole) is a bestselling author of over forty historical and Western novels, including The Canebrake Men and Crockett of Tennessee. A former award-winning journalist, he continues to write his acclaimed column “Clips to Keep” and lives with his family in Greene County, Tennessee.

Reviews

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good frontier tale about the men and women who settled Tennessee and opened up Kentucky. Follows the life of a 10-year old boy whose mother dies and his father abandons him. Blends history and fiction together very well. Recommended to fans of frontier stories and action/adventure stories.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really, really good book. I've never heard of Cameron Judd before, but his books kept showing up in my emails advertising Kindle sales. So I gave it a go, and was quite impressed. I'm surprised these books haven't caught traction on Goodreads and I can't find much info of the author. I just hope he had his heyday in the 90s back when this was written.

I've since purchased more from this author, and plan to finish out the Tennessee Frontier trilogy. This book had great characters, full of emotions and heart, yada-yada... all the cliché praises.

Most importantly, it was quite a harsh, horrific history lesson.

For what it's worth, I hope that any fan of American history and the Frontier, who reads this review, will place this on their TBR and one day give it a try. I promise, it'd be worth your time 😌

[Gerald Guy]

Part of the Tennessee Frontier Trilogy, “Overmountain Man” is historically significant because it describes in great detail how hard life was when the American colonists crossed the mountain ranges into Tennessee, Kentucky and the Ohio Valley prior to the American Revolution. First published in 1991, this riveting tale traces the life of Joshua Byrum – son of settlers, Indian captive, wilderness survivor, freedom fighter and frontiersman. He was Daniel Boone and Jeremiah Johnson rolled into one. There's lots of action, hardship and a little bit of romance in this novel. I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great intro to early Tennessee history.
Much of the actual (non-fiction) history is here with
all of the names and places inserted into the fictional storyline.

It describes the events leading to the pushing out of the Cherokee from north of the Smoky Mountains and the development of the first free government in America, outside the British colonies and before the Revolution.

I'm moving onto the next in the series, The Border Men.

[Kelly]

this is the book that got me hooked on reading

[Vivacity · Rating 5 out of 5]

An adventure entrenched in the colorful history of beyond the backcountry

This was a great story about a place and time period that isn't taught in school. I appreciated that the author covered the period through the eyes and ears of very different people. When white colonial 'long hunters' disobeyed British law (Proclamation of 1763) by starting settlements west of the Appalachian Mts., the clash between cultures and value systems had nearly catastrophic results. In the end, only the strongest survive...only the side with most resources can prevail. I found the Cherokee culture very fascinating, and at times it rang true for even modern men. It is the young who have the luxury of standing steadfast to their own principles. Wisdom is most often dependent on having lived and learned from so many experiences that those who are wise better see the harsh reality, while the youthful believe they can (almost) single handedly bend the inevitable to their way of thinking. From varied characters,this novel reflects soon what can happen when several cultures collided. ...Now, how could this story end differently if each culture was represented equally, so the Cherokee, Shawnee, hunters, speculators and settlers had equal say instead? I suppose there was no political correctness then, as if being politically correct today guarantees culture equality in our great nation...

[Phyllis H. Pajka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how to even start telling you about this book. First off, don't get side tracked by the 13 hours the book takes to read. It's worth it. This story takes place in the early 1700's when men had just started building forts out west for protection from the Native Americans. The battle between the Natives and the American's is a well know story and this one is no different. Some become friends but most remain enemies. We all know how this book ends because we've read it in History books so I won't go there. I think you will really enjoy this book even with the length. I sure did. Give it a try and see what you think.

[virgil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kindle Issues

Overall, this is an interesting historical novel that has been thoroughly researched. The many characters are varied and well developed, the storyline is intriguing with a number of various subplots, and attention to detail is solid. There are a number of format issues with the Kindle translation. It also bothered me that Christina's daughter Beth was unmentioned when Christina died. Cooper was there; where was Beth?. Took off one star.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking forward to the next book in the series

Growing up watching Fess Parker’s “Daniel Boone” TV series I have always been drawn to stories of the Kentucky/Tennessee/Carolina Frontier. This novel was a good one. A good book leaves you wanting more. And this one does.

[Jim Shaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting reading in a simple writing style. I read an eBook version and the formatting was horrible. The most annoying thing was transitions. The story would be moving along nicely and then the next paragraph would involve a different location or story line.

[Connie Huddleston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written bit of early over the mountains history. Disagree with some of the background history but the characters are well written and developed. However, the ebook formatting is horrible! Plus a couple of mix-ups of names led to confusion. Still I have downloaded #2 in the series.

[Ruth Prather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series. Such a fascinating peak into what life was like and compassionately told from all perspectives so one group of people weren't completely vilified. Hard things happen, but it was not overly detailed to make it unbearable. Great character development. Loved it!

[Oren Calvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

review of The Overmountain Men

I found this to be a very excellent book. It had an alluring mix of fictional story and historical events. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. 🤩

[Debbie Dodd · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in the Tennessee Frontier Trilogy. If you like history this is a series you will enjoy.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great story by Judd. Loved it!

[Michael Sigler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, entertaining yarn that felt really rushed in alot of places. There was enough narrative jam-packed into these 400+ pages to fill out two much better paced 300 page novels.

[James Wallace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Childish

Might be good for kids. I found it too unrealistic and predictably corny . Can't believe I read the whole book.

[Michael Fortunato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Fiction

Good representation of the life that people endured at that time period. It also spoke well of the failings of men.

[Jami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb story!

Cameron Judd tells a great story. It takes you to that time and place with characters that that are full and believable.

[Keith Leydon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good tale based around historical events and times.

[Robert Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

the painful evolution of a new nation.

A good story, probably very similar to actual events that happened over and over again as the United States was slowly born.

[T Dog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this trilogy. Great story and learned a lot about the history of my State.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit that I bought this book as well as the companion volumes of the trilogy because they were deeply discounted through Amazon. I've always been interested in early Tennessee history, particularly the history of East Tennessee. While I don't normally read historical fiction, the subject matter and price of the book were a good combination for me to get out of my comfort zone. I really wasn't expecting the book to be that great. However, I found myself pleasantly surprised. The writing itself was technically quite good. The story was compelling and believable. As far as I could tell, the factual historical details were accurate and seamlessly interwoven with the fictional plot and characters. One of the book's traits I appreciated the most was the author's tact and delicacy in describing some of the brutal realities of life on the frontier. He didn't give long-winded descriptions full of gratuitous violence and needless detail, but the reader also isn't left wondering what happened. I wish more modern authors would adopt this approach to realism. I look forward to reading the other two books in the trilogy.

[Bob Lafary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye. Friends, Romans, and Americans--lend me your eyes--or if you are like me and only have one eye; well lend me it then. I regret that I have only one eye to give. From the time even before Patrick Henry, came "The Overmountain Men." Men, and women, of darring do who came out of and over the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. Ever searching for what lies over the next ridge. They took the land from whomever had lived there for many years. This caused somewhat of a row. The Creeks, the Shawnees, the Delawares, and the Cherokees were pretty upset about this. (My wife is Cherokee and is still upset about this. Be careful if you run into her. Be verrrry careful.) Joshua Colter was one such man. An overmountain man, a frontiersman, and a true early American hero. (Well, in fiction anyway.) A good book; not too gory; published back in 1991; and the first book in "The Tennessee Frontier Trilogy" series. By-the-way; there are three books in a trilogy. I was once upon a time, at a Nora Roberts book signing. The lady in front of me, asked Nora how many books were in this trilogy of Noras. I swear to you she did. I thought Nora was going to turn all shades of red! This work is good. It is good early American historical fiction. I would have given it four stars instead of three--but I thought it was a bit long and drawn out in some places.