Lewis and Clark: Across the Divide

Rating:
Summary: Your "PC" is my history.
Review: My my, all the fits about this book - it is "PC,' or it is revisionist, what ever that means. In all, this is a good book which attempts to be balanced and soothe all the nerves of the thin skinned who still think Americans are a privileged people with a Manifest Destiny to do what they will to other cultures.

Rating:
Summary: Tragic Revisionism
Review: This book is a tragedy. Because it is the text that will accompany the bicentennial touring exibit of L&C it will have a wide spread readership, yet it is another politically correct dose of revisionist clap-trap.

Much of it deals with Indian Culture that has few specific connective points to the Corps of Discovery and their brave and honorable exploration.

There is no doubt that many Indian tribes played important roles in the success of the venture. They showed friendship and intelligence at critical times during the L&C Journey. Yet, to pound and pound on this to the point that L&C are nearly reduced to stumbling, lucky buffoons finally wears thin.

All the negatives(L&C were slaveholders etc., etc.) are highlighted while many of the astonishing achivements are glossed over.

The photos are inconsistent. I know the intent was to show the articles on display at the exhibit but many pictures are too small to do justice to the subject shown. There are some beautiful prints of Bodner and Catlin paintings but again an overabundace of Indian artifacts and dress.

This book could have and should have been so much more than it is.

The quality of the paper and binding are its strongest points.

Rating:
Summary: Your "PC" is my history.
Review: This is an outstanding book: lucidly written, well-reasoned, soundly researched, and visually appealing. In my review of this book and others on the Lewis and Clark expeditiion, published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, I state that the subtitle refers to the divide the author crosses, that is, the divide that has so far minimized or ignored the crucial role played by Indians, including Indian women, in making the explorers' long journey successful.

Carolyn Gilman crosses this divide skilllfully and diplomatically. Granted, readers and viewers who resist fresh interpretations that grant to non-whites and women the recognition they deserve, as does this book, are likely to call her approach "politically correct." That label misses the point. The appropriate label for the author, the book, and exhibition it accompanies is "h.h.," that is, "historically honest." Cross the divide with the author, and that is what you will discover.

My review can be found at <www.stl.today.com/books>.

Rating:
Summary: Crossing the Divide
Review: This is an outstanding book: lucidly written, well-reasoned, soundly researched, and visually appealing. In my review of this book and others on the Lewis and Clark expeditiion, published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, I state that the subtitle refers to the divide the author crosses, that is, the divide that has so far minimized or ignored the crucial role played by Indians, including Indian women, in making the explorers' long journey successful.

Carolyn Gilman crosses this divide skilllfully and diplomatically. Granted, readers and viewers who resist fresh interpretations that grant to non-whites and women the recognition they deserve, as does this book, are likely to call her approach "politically correct." That label misses the point. The appropriate label for the author, the book, and exhibition it accompanies is "h.h.," that is, "historically honest." Cross the divide with the author, and that is what you will discover.

My review can be found at .