This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark
This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark
This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark
Description
Description
"Original, compelling, and memorable...Fehrman sheds new light on a fabled story, and tells it in a way that puts all of us back in a vanished but resonant world." --Jon Meacham - "Here, at long last, is the Lewis and Clark expedition presented in living technicolor." --Hampton Sides - "Spectacular...Fehrman paints an incredible, vivid, you-are-there portrait." --Garrett M. Graff A major revisionist history of the Lewis and Clark expedition: For the first time in a generation, This Vast Enterprise offers a fresh and more accurate account of one of the most important episodes in American history, humanizing forgotten figures and shattering long-held myths. In 1806, when Meriwether Lewis and William Clark return from their yearslong journey--having led the Corps of Discovery across eight thousand miles of rapids, mountains, forests, and ravines--they bring an incredible tale starring themselves as courageous explorers, skilled survivalists, underrated scientists, and peaceful ambassadors. While there is truth in those descriptions, there is also distortion. From one of the most exciting new historians to emerge in the past decade, This Vast Enterprise offers a bold and novel take on the expedition: a gripping narrative that draws on lost documents, stunning analysis, and Native perspectives. Craig Fehrman spent five years visiting more than thirty archives, interviewing more than a hundred sources, and collecting oral history passed down over centuries. He came to see that the success of Lewis and Clark depended on much more than just Lewis and Clark. We all know Sacajawea, and some of us know York, the Black man Clark enslaved. But This Vast Enterprise introduces us to John Ordway, a working-class soldier who fought fearsome grizzlies and towed the captains' hulking barge. It introduces us to Wolf Calf, a Blackfoot teenager who watched his friend die in a tense battle with Lewis and his men. To capture this cast of characters, each chapter in This Vast Enterprise moves to a different person's point of view, describing their desires and contradictions with an unprecedented level of care. One chapter shows Thomas Jefferson operating in an age of bitter partisan unrest--his secret political maneuvers to fund the expedition, revealed here for the first time, are a case study in presidential power. Another chapter shows the strategy and strength of Black Buffalo, completely upending our understanding of Lakota-American diplomacy. York, in his chapters, finds ways to wield power and make choices in an era that didn't allow him much of either. Clark is not a folksy Kentuckian but a student of the Enlightenment. (Fehrman discovered his college notebook; no previous biographer even realized that he went to college.) Lewis is someone willing to sacrifice everything for his country, his mission, and his mentor, Jefferson; in Fehrman's subtle yet heartbreaking analysis, Lewis's legendary strengths are inseparable from his lifelong weaknesses. In the end, the captains are men who needed help--from Sacajawea, from the Corps, and from each other. Mile after mile, the expedition pushes on through dramatic hailstorms and flash floods, life-threatening frostbite and infections, rattlesnakes and rabid wolves, with the Spanish cavalry in fierce pursuit. Fehrman bal-ances the story's inherent adventure with the humanity of its protagonists. This Vast Enterprise is more than just a work of history--it's a testament to the power of innovative research and emotional storytelling, and a thrilling reminder that even the most familiar moments in history can still surprise us.
About the Author
About the Author
Craig Fehrman, a journalist and historian, spent six years writing and researching This Vast Enterprise. His first book, Author in Chief, was described by Thomas Mallon in The Wall Street Journal as "one of the best books on the American presidency to appear in recent years." Fehrman lives in Indiana with his wife and children.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"Here, at long last, is the Lewis and Clark expedition presented in living technicolor. Employing an ever-shifting point of view that slyly and intriguingly builds upon itself, we see the great historic project as an epic of mutual discovery, in which the explorers and those whose lands are being explored are given equal consideration and dramatic weight. In this way, Fehrman leads us to confront the deeper truth that 'discovery' is never a one-way process--its fruits and its legacies, its gifts and its curses, flow in multiple directions."
--Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of Blood and Thunder and The Wide Wide Sea "A valuable fresh look at a storied moment in American history . . . The book's wide-angle perspective is appropriate, since Lewis and Clark favored a more democratic decision-making style than was usual on a military expedition, and the inclusion of multiple Native points of view makes it clear how complex and fraught the team's mission was. Fehrman's approach gives added depth to his chronicle of the breathtaking natural wonders encountered and extraordinary hardships overcome on the Corps' transcontinental trek."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Craig Fehrman has done what he set out to do: shed new light on a fabled story, and tell it in a way that puts all of us back in a vanished but resonant world. His rendering of the Lewis and Clark saga is original, compelling, and memorable."
--Jon Meacham, author of And There Was Light "There are innumerable accounts of the Corps of Discovery, and it remains one of America's favorite stories . . . Yet Fehrman manages to breathe new life into this well-worn tale through his masterful retelling. Fehrman deftly moves Captains Lewis and Clark out of the spotlight and brings in perspectives we've not heard before--like those of Lakota leader Black Buffalo, working-class sergeant John Ordway and a Blackfoot teenager named Wolf Calf--and he expands our understanding of the critical characters we've come to know in lore and legend. . . . Like Adam Higginbotham's Challenger and Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns, This Vast Enterprise delivers a brilliant new interpretation of a story that deserves to be known in its entirety."
--BookPage (starred review) "This book is so, so good, one of my favorites of the last decade."
--Patrick Wyman, Tides of History "In his spectacular new book, every bit as audacious as the original expedition, Craig Fehrman rewrites our memory of the journey of Lewis and Clark, broadening the lens to show the many personalities--many long forgotten--who in 1804 made up the most daring American experiment yet. He paints an incredible, vivid, you-are-there portrait of an American nation being imagined and created for the first time and all those, from Thomas Jefferson to Native American chiefs, whose lives were forever altered by two of the most famous explorers in history."
--Garrett M. Graff, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Devil Reached Toward the Sky "Riveting . . . Grounded in outstanding scholarship . . . By writing from various points of view, Fehrman broadens the long-held narrative of the expedition, enriching what we know of its successes and failures. . . . Fehrman has done a great service to American history in this must-read."
--Booklist (starred review) "Fehrman's rigorous account sheds light on previously overlooked historical figures and political machinations during the Lewis and Clark expedition, drawn from an impressive mountain of research involving dozens of archives, over 100 interviews and Indigenous oral histories passed down over generations."
--New York Times, "Nonfiction Books We're Excited About This Spring" "In This Vast Enterprise, Craig Fehrman has composed a magnificent hymn to a wildly colorful and largely unsung cast of fascinating, provocative characters without whom the epic of Lewis and Clark never would have been possible. A sweeping and revelatory story by a writer who is willing not only to acknowledge but also to embrace the complexities, nuances, and richness that have always resided beneath the surface of one of America's most cherished national myths."
--Kevin Fedarko, New York Times bestselling author of A Walk in the Park "It's appropriate that the most fascinating characters in Craig Fehrman's riveting new page-turner are translators. For, like all the finest historians, Fehrman is a master translator, too: between historical epochs, between cultures--and most of all, between the story of Lewis and Clark we learned as kids (two heroic white men and their enthusiastic Native assistant blazing new vistas of science and exploration), and the richer and far more fascinating reality."
--Rick Perlstein, author of Reaganland "Anyone interested in American history, and especially the Lewis and Clark expedition, must read this book. Fehrman is an insightful researcher, and an excellent and entertaining author."
--Robert J. Miller, author of Native America, Discovered and Conquered, enrolled citizen of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe "By featuring a vibrant and diverse cast, including Native men and women, Craig Fehrman gives greater depth and a richer context to the famed Lewis and Clark expedition. In vivid prose and with keen insight, This Vast Enterprise reveals the high stakes of American expansion for the continent."
--Alan Taylor, author of American Republics: A Continental History of the United States, 1783-1850 "This is vivid, character-based history. . . . Fehrman weaves a tale that uses human stories to go beyond hard facts and calcified myths. . . . This Vast Enterprise moves Lewis, Clark, and their crew out of the realm of myth and into a world not just of blood and sweat but also negotiation: with the land, with Native peoples, and with each other. Fehrman's approach to this well-trodden historical chapter is fresh and inclusive. It also makes for a ripping good read."
--Boston Globe "More than 220 years later, the Lewis and Clark expedition still intrigues. . . . In his immensely engaging book, This Vast Enterprise, Craig Fehrman strives to capture the motivations, values and ideas of the individuals who contributed to this multifaceted historical event. . . . Based on thorough research of published and unpublished sources, as well as Native American oral tradition, the book gives this well-known story a fresh breadth of implication."
--Wall Street Journal
"What makes Craig Fehrman's new history so valuable is the voices of others involved that flesh out the traditional account and offers viewpoints and nuance to the story that have never been heard before. . . . Fehrman has penned a new telling of the greatest adventure of our early Republic. This Vast Enterprise adds new strands to a rich tapestry of true American adventure, one worthy of its place in the pantheon of the American story."
--Carolina Chronicles "An extraordinary new book."
--Clay Jenkinson, Listening to America
--Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of Blood and Thunder and The Wide Wide Sea "A valuable fresh look at a storied moment in American history . . . The book's wide-angle perspective is appropriate, since Lewis and Clark favored a more democratic decision-making style than was usual on a military expedition, and the inclusion of multiple Native points of view makes it clear how complex and fraught the team's mission was. Fehrman's approach gives added depth to his chronicle of the breathtaking natural wonders encountered and extraordinary hardships overcome on the Corps' transcontinental trek."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Craig Fehrman has done what he set out to do: shed new light on a fabled story, and tell it in a way that puts all of us back in a vanished but resonant world. His rendering of the Lewis and Clark saga is original, compelling, and memorable."
--Jon Meacham, author of And There Was Light "There are innumerable accounts of the Corps of Discovery, and it remains one of America's favorite stories . . . Yet Fehrman manages to breathe new life into this well-worn tale through his masterful retelling. Fehrman deftly moves Captains Lewis and Clark out of the spotlight and brings in perspectives we've not heard before--like those of Lakota leader Black Buffalo, working-class sergeant John Ordway and a Blackfoot teenager named Wolf Calf--and he expands our understanding of the critical characters we've come to know in lore and legend. . . . Like Adam Higginbotham's Challenger and Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns, This Vast Enterprise delivers a brilliant new interpretation of a story that deserves to be known in its entirety."
--BookPage (starred review) "This book is so, so good, one of my favorites of the last decade."
--Patrick Wyman, Tides of History "In his spectacular new book, every bit as audacious as the original expedition, Craig Fehrman rewrites our memory of the journey of Lewis and Clark, broadening the lens to show the many personalities--many long forgotten--who in 1804 made up the most daring American experiment yet. He paints an incredible, vivid, you-are-there portrait of an American nation being imagined and created for the first time and all those, from Thomas Jefferson to Native American chiefs, whose lives were forever altered by two of the most famous explorers in history."
--Garrett M. Graff, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Devil Reached Toward the Sky "Riveting . . . Grounded in outstanding scholarship . . . By writing from various points of view, Fehrman broadens the long-held narrative of the expedition, enriching what we know of its successes and failures. . . . Fehrman has done a great service to American history in this must-read."
--Booklist (starred review) "Fehrman's rigorous account sheds light on previously overlooked historical figures and political machinations during the Lewis and Clark expedition, drawn from an impressive mountain of research involving dozens of archives, over 100 interviews and Indigenous oral histories passed down over generations."
--New York Times, "Nonfiction Books We're Excited About This Spring" "In This Vast Enterprise, Craig Fehrman has composed a magnificent hymn to a wildly colorful and largely unsung cast of fascinating, provocative characters without whom the epic of Lewis and Clark never would have been possible. A sweeping and revelatory story by a writer who is willing not only to acknowledge but also to embrace the complexities, nuances, and richness that have always resided beneath the surface of one of America's most cherished national myths."
--Kevin Fedarko, New York Times bestselling author of A Walk in the Park "It's appropriate that the most fascinating characters in Craig Fehrman's riveting new page-turner are translators. For, like all the finest historians, Fehrman is a master translator, too: between historical epochs, between cultures--and most of all, between the story of Lewis and Clark we learned as kids (two heroic white men and their enthusiastic Native assistant blazing new vistas of science and exploration), and the richer and far more fascinating reality."
--Rick Perlstein, author of Reaganland "Anyone interested in American history, and especially the Lewis and Clark expedition, must read this book. Fehrman is an insightful researcher, and an excellent and entertaining author."
--Robert J. Miller, author of Native America, Discovered and Conquered, enrolled citizen of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe "By featuring a vibrant and diverse cast, including Native men and women, Craig Fehrman gives greater depth and a richer context to the famed Lewis and Clark expedition. In vivid prose and with keen insight, This Vast Enterprise reveals the high stakes of American expansion for the continent."
--Alan Taylor, author of American Republics: A Continental History of the United States, 1783-1850 "This is vivid, character-based history. . . . Fehrman weaves a tale that uses human stories to go beyond hard facts and calcified myths. . . . This Vast Enterprise moves Lewis, Clark, and their crew out of the realm of myth and into a world not just of blood and sweat but also negotiation: with the land, with Native peoples, and with each other. Fehrman's approach to this well-trodden historical chapter is fresh and inclusive. It also makes for a ripping good read."
--Boston Globe "More than 220 years later, the Lewis and Clark expedition still intrigues. . . . In his immensely engaging book, This Vast Enterprise, Craig Fehrman strives to capture the motivations, values and ideas of the individuals who contributed to this multifaceted historical event. . . . Based on thorough research of published and unpublished sources, as well as Native American oral tradition, the book gives this well-known story a fresh breadth of implication."
--Wall Street Journal
"What makes Craig Fehrman's new history so valuable is the voices of others involved that flesh out the traditional account and offers viewpoints and nuance to the story that have never been heard before. . . . Fehrman has penned a new telling of the greatest adventure of our early Republic. This Vast Enterprise adds new strands to a rich tapestry of true American adventure, one worthy of its place in the pantheon of the American story."
--Carolina Chronicles "An extraordinary new book."
--Clay Jenkinson, Listening to America
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Pub date:
2026-04-21
Length:
544 pages
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