The Year of Decision 1846

by Bernard DeVoto, Stephen E. Ambrose (Introduction), Mark Devoto (Foreword by)

Overview

Year of Decision 1846 tells many fascinating stories of the U.S. explorers who began the western march from the Mississippi to the Pacific, from Canada to the annexation of Texas, California, and the southwest lands from Mexico. It is the penultimate book of a trilogy which includes Across the Wide Missouri (for which DeVoto won both the Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes) and The Course of Empire. DeVoto's narrative covers the expanding Western frontier, the Mormons, the Donner party, Fremont's exploration, the Army of the West, and takes readers into Native American tribal life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312267940
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/05/2000
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	576
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.27(d)

About the Author

Bernard DeVoto (1897-1955), winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, was a renowned scholar-historian.

Stephen E. Ambrose is the author of Undaunted Courage and D-Day June, 1944 both critically-acclaimed bestsellers.

Editorial Reviews

In the first volume of the trilogy, Devoto made 1846 the 'year of the decision.' The reason was that it was in 1846 that America began a war with Mexico that would lead to the annexation of New Mexico, Arizona, and California; and that America settled a long-smoldering dispute with Great Britain and became sovereign in Oregon, thus beginning the process of making the Southwest and West Coast into a part of the American Republic. It was also a peak year in the emigration across the plains and mountains.” —Stephen E. Ambrose, from the Introduction

“Bernard DeVoto has woven a pattern of history more meaningful than any of its strands... This rare combination of the scholar's accuracy, the novelist's creative vision, and the historian's insight has won him a distinguished place among American historians.” —Garrett Mattingly, author of The Armada

From the Publisher