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soniapage's review against another edition
4.0
Not only a biography of Daniel Boone but also of early America and the push westward. Beautifully and affectionately written and I could have cried at the end.
marcopolo's review against another edition
4.0
Daniel Boone, everyone has heard the name and the stories, but the stories do not tell who the real man was. In this book, [a:Robert Morgan|702|Robert Morgan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1204922355p2/702.jpg] tells an honest tale of the man who Boone really was. A biography that reveals the man was even greater then the bits and pieces of the legend we've all heard and seen. Well worth the read for anyone who is interested in the history of the early American Frontier and one if it's great explorers.
bupdaddy's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure what I was expecting from a biography of Daniel Boone, but I never got too close. The author argued, perhaps correctly, that Boone is a sort of Rorschach of the American psyche, and will always be mysterious, but it also feels like he didn't even really try.
Honestly, too, I had a hard time not being overly distracted by the narrator. His mouth and the English language are apparently on the outs, and fought a lot during the reading. He attacked sounds and they fought back. Further, he inflected some clauses the wrong way, emphasizing the wrong word or words.
Except for some basic facts about Boone's life (born near Philadelphia a Quaker, in debt a lot of his life, imprisoned by Shawnees for a couple of years, fought in a 1782 battle of the American Revolution), I don't have any better sense of the man than I did before I read it.
Honestly, too, I had a hard time not being overly distracted by the narrator. His mouth and the English language are apparently on the outs, and fought a lot during the reading. He attacked sounds and they fought back. Further, he inflected some clauses the wrong way, emphasizing the wrong word or words.
Except for some basic facts about Boone's life (born near Philadelphia a Quaker, in debt a lot of his life, imprisoned by Shawnees for a couple of years, fought in a 1782 battle of the American Revolution), I don't have any better sense of the man than I did before I read it.
diannaobrien's review against another edition
2.0
A fawning biography that describes Boone basically going into Indian land to hunt, clearly aware he was trespassing, a man who leaves his wife and his growing family to hunt, yet fails to do three things to gain his own land. Those three things were plant a crop, build a dwelling and complete the paperwork. This book, after more than 400 pages when I abandoned the effort, left me wondering why anyone would admire Boone.
acarman1's review against another edition
5.0
This book was one of the best biographies I've read in awhile, a real step forward in American history. Morgan applies Daniel Richter's "Facing Eastward From Indian Country" to Daniel Boone. The years of the legend's life stretch from the heady days of the French and Indian War to the time of the Missouri Crisis and Compromise. Yet Boone knew little, or only until after the fact, about the earth-shattering events of the American Revolution, Constitutional Convention, and the rise of Thomas Jefferson. He was dealing with his own problems. He spent the year of 1778 as a prisoner of the Shawnee, who were allied with the British. He escaped to lead a desperate defense of his home against the British and Indians, protecting the province of Kentucky from falling into British hands, an important rearguard victory that helped Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina remain securely in American hands.
The book is beautifully written and really gets to the heart of what made Boone, for most of us a half-legendary figure, tick. The author delves into his relationship with Indians--a surprisingly cordial one given his own capture, the kidnapping of his daughter and the torture and murder of his son and brother--and his opinions about nature. Boone loved solitude and the outdoors, and spent long months on his own or with a few others, hunting and trapping. But his exploration of Kentucky and then Missouri opened the floodgates, ensuring the settlement and civilization of the areas, thus destroying the world he loved. Boone did not fare well in settled life, falling into debt and getting double-crossed by unscrupulous land agents. When he died in Missouri in 1820, he didn't even own enough land to be buried in.
Boone emerged from the pages as a very familiar man to me. His commitment to family and friends, and love of nature and solitude reminded me greatly of my late grandfather. I found the last chapter, where Morgan illuminates Boone's appearance in various American poems and literature to be a departure from anything I was interested in, but I suppose it will help the biography to be cross-listed as literary criticism. He also promised to delve into Boone's connection to Freemasonry, but then kind of trailed off into speculation, which didn't really deliver. But overall, the book was an extremely satisfying read. For me, it informed me about another side of the period of history I know so well, and reminded me of a much-loved grandfather.
The book is beautifully written and really gets to the heart of what made Boone, for most of us a half-legendary figure, tick. The author delves into his relationship with Indians--a surprisingly cordial one given his own capture, the kidnapping of his daughter and the torture and murder of his son and brother--and his opinions about nature. Boone loved solitude and the outdoors, and spent long months on his own or with a few others, hunting and trapping. But his exploration of Kentucky and then Missouri opened the floodgates, ensuring the settlement and civilization of the areas, thus destroying the world he loved. Boone did not fare well in settled life, falling into debt and getting double-crossed by unscrupulous land agents. When he died in Missouri in 1820, he didn't even own enough land to be buried in.
Boone emerged from the pages as a very familiar man to me. His commitment to family and friends, and love of nature and solitude reminded me greatly of my late grandfather. I found the last chapter, where Morgan illuminates Boone's appearance in various American poems and literature to be a departure from anything I was interested in, but I suppose it will help the biography to be cross-listed as literary criticism. He also promised to delve into Boone's connection to Freemasonry, but then kind of trailed off into speculation, which didn't really deliver. But overall, the book was an extremely satisfying read. For me, it informed me about another side of the period of history I know so well, and reminded me of a much-loved grandfather.
indianajane's review against another edition
4.0
So far the biggest thing I've learned is that Daniel Boone is my first cousin nine times removed. :)
judyward's review against another edition
4.0
I have never been a huge fan of Robert Morgan. I wasn't wild about Gap Creek which my friends were raving about. But I have reevaluated Morgan as an author with this biography of Daniel Boone. He not only turns the life of Daniel Boone into the story of America, but he recues Daniel Boone from his status as an American legend and creates the portrait of a flesh and blood man who comes alive in the pages of this book. My only complaint is that the book is a little too long and filled with, perhaps, too much detail. Fascinating detail, but a whole lot of detail nonetheless.
searchingforcharles's review against another edition
5.0
I've always been interested in Daniel Boone, and with this biography I learned even more than I had hoped. If you want to go in depth, this is the book for you.