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Rating: 
Summary: Book is riveting, hard to put down, and incredible.
Review: It's hard to believe that what is written down in this book ir real. But, real it is. Once you start reading it you can't put it down. It holds you spellbound. Pulls at your heartstrings as you read what this party had to go through. It would be impossible today for people to stand up to what these people did. This book is well worth the reading. These people had the strength, fortitude that is seldom found today.
Rating: 
Summary: Keep a paper bag handy.
Review: Maudlin, hypersentimental tripe, worthless as either a history or a scientific inquiry into the events surrounding its subject. A wandering bard's laments with a street organ would be more valuable as a historical source than this piece of sycophancy, a purported "history" bursting at the seams with errors and largely devoid of accurate facts, chronology or topography. McGlashan befriended Donner party survivors during compiling his material and what he eventually thrusts on the world as a "history" is a ludicrous, simpering ode to both the living and the dead concerned with no regard for the truth, a pathetically transparent attempt at fanning his new-found "friends" raw sensibilities on the subject (no pun intended), and appeasing his own quixotic knights-on-white-steeds world-view. Bancroft, talking about the Donner party incident in his "History of California", says "C.F. McGlashan published a volume on the subject in 1879, treating it in a manner that has left little or nothing to be desired". Was Bancroft under the gun or under the influence when he wrote those words? We shall never know. What we do know is that such irresponsible eulogizing by his peers catapulted McGlashan's ham-handed, lopsided "history" to undeserved posterity. If you want to read a real history of the Donner party incident, George Stewart's "Ordeal by Hunger" would be a good place to start. In comparison, McGlashan's composition is good for entertainment. His flowery language frequently elicits chuckles, not a minor achievement considering the extreme grimness of the subject matter. Had McGlashan, obese with flowery prose and sentimental rambling stumbled onto a certain grizzled gathering at the shores of Lake Truckee in the winter of 1846, the questionable gourmets present may have appreciated him far better than the modern student of history....
Rating:
Summary: Book is riveting, hard to put down, and incredible.
Review: While certainly a worthwile book on the tragedy of the Donner Party, the book does have its weaknesses. Specifically, McGlashan's research is less than objective. As George Stewart points out in his better book on the subject, "Ordeal By Hunger," McGlashan was very sloppy with his facts. His personal friendship with a few of the Donner Party survivors also biases his writing. Still, the book is a very important read for those interested in this historic tragedy. For the money, though, Stewart's book is the better choice
Rating: 
Summary: McGlashan's Work Valuable, But Flawed
Review: While certainly a worthwile book on the tragedy of the Donner Party, the book does have its weaknesses. Specifically, McGlashan's research is less than objective. As George Stewart points out in his better book on the subject, "Ordeal By Hunger," McGlashan was very sloppy with his facts. His personal friendship with a few of the Donner Party survivors also biases his writing. Still, the book is a very important read for those interested in this historic tragedy. For the money, though, Stewart's book is the better choice
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