Description
Book SynopsisMaster historian David McCullough’s classic book about some of history’s most daring and accomplished figures from Alexander von Humboldt to Charles and Anne Lindbergh.Pulitzer Prize–winning author David McCullough has written profiles of exceptional men and women who shaped the course of history and changed how we see the world. Their remarkable stories express much that is timeless about the human condition.
Here are Alexander von Humboldt, whose epic explorations of South America surpassed in scope the Lewis and Clark expedition; Harriet Beecher Stowe, “the little woman who made the big war”; Western artist Frederic Remington; the extraordinary Louis Agassiz of Harvard; Charles and Anne Lindbergh, and their fellow long-distance pilots Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Beryl Markham; Harry Caudill, the Kentucky lawyer who awakened the nation to the tragedy of Appalachia; and David Plowden, a contemporary photographer of vanishing America.
Different as they are from each other, McCullough’s subjects have in common a rare vitality and sense of purpose. These are brave companions: to each other, to David McCullough, and to the reader, for with rare storytelling ability McCullough brings us into the times they knew and their very uncommon lives.
Trade Review“[McCullough] is one of the great historical storytellers of his generation."
-- Robert W. Merry * The Wall Street Journal *
"If you enjoy good stories well told about interesting people and places, you should read this book. You will learn something about history -- and also about good historical writing." * Cleveland Plain Dealer *
"McCullough's portrayals ... are models of compression, perspective, and the discriminating use of detail, and of what the author calls 'the possibilities for self-expression in writing narrative history.'" * The New York Times Book Review *
"It will come as no surprise to the reader to learn that Mr. McCullough's first ambition was to be a portrait painter. He has supplied us with admirable portraits....All his subjects come alive." * Dallas Morning News *
“For more than 40 years, David McCullough has brought the past to life in books distinguished by vigorous storytelling and vivid characterizations." -- Wendy Smith * Los Angeles Times *
“McCullough is among the most thoughtful and thorough historians of the past two generations. . . . [A] great American mind.” -- John S. Gardner * The Guardian *
