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Desperate Passage: The Donner Party's Perilous Journey West - Hardcover - GOOD
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eBay item number:255842179323
Item specifics
- Condition
- Brand
- Unbranded
- MPN
- Does not apply
- ISBN
- 9780195305029
- Book Title
- Desperate Passage : the Donner Party's Perilous Journey West
- Item Length
- 6.6 in
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press, Incorporated
- Publication Year
- 2008
- Format
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- Illustrator
- Yes
- Item Height
- 1.1 in
- Genre
- History
- Topic
- United States / 19th Century, United States / State & Local / West (Ak, CA, Co, Hi, Id, Mt, Nv, Ut, WY), United States / General
- Item Width
- 9.3 in
- Item Weight
- 22.1 Oz
- Number of Pages
- 304 Pages
About this product
Product Information
In late October 1846, the last wagon train of that year's westward migration stopped overnight before resuming its arduous climb over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, unaware that a fearsome storm was gathering force. After months of grueling travel, the 81 men, women and children would be trapped for a brutal winter with little food and only primitive shelter. The conclusion is known: by spring of the next year, the Donner Party was synonymous with the most harrowing extremes of human survival. But until now, the full story of what happened, what it tells us about human nature and about America's westward expansion, remained shrouded in myth. Drawing on fresh archaeological evidence, recent research on topics ranging from survival rates to snowfall totals, and heartbreaking letters and diaries made public by descendants a century-and-a-half after the tragedy, Ethan Rarick offers an intimate portrait of the Donner party and their unimaginable ordeal: a mother who must divide her family, a little girl who shines with courage, a devoted wife who refuses to abandon her husband, a man who risks his life merely to keep his word. But Rarick resists both the gruesomely sensationalist accounts of the Donner party as well as later attempts to turn the survivors into archetypal pioneer heroes. "The Donner Party," Rarick writes, "is a story of hard decisions that were neither heroic nor villainous. Often, the emigrants displayed a more realistic and typically human mixture of generosity and selfishness, an alloy born of necessity." A fast-paced, heart-wrenching, clear-eyed narrative history, A Desperate Hope casts new light on one of America's most horrific encounters between the dream of a better life and the harsh realities such dreams so often must confront.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Oxford University Press, Incorporated
ISBN-10
0195305027
ISBN-13
9780195305029
eBay Product ID (ePID)
60311796
Product Key Features
Book Title
Desperate Passage : the Donner Party's Perilous Journey West
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Topic
United States / 19th Century, United States / State & Local / West (Ak, CA, Co, Hi, Id, Mt, Nv, Ut, WY), United States / General
Publication Year
2008
Illustrator
Yes
Genre
History
Number of Pages
304 Pages
Dimensions
Item Length
6.6 in
Item Height
1.1 in
Item Width
9.3 in
Item Weight
22.1 Oz
Additional Product Features
Intended Audience
Trade
Lc Classification Number
F868.N5r37 2008
Reviews
"This sober, unflinching look at one of the great tragedies of America's pioneering past tells us a great deal that is new about the Donner Party's trials. Rarick scythes away the myths of one of the nation's better-known sagas, and offers up this horrific but ennobling tale in all its freshly researched detail. Readers take heed: this is a tough book, but a gripping one." -- Simon Winchester, author of Krakatoa "Like the foreboding passages in an operatic overture, the ordeal of the Donner Party warned Americans that tragedy could not be banished from this newly acquired province. In this meticulously detailed narrative, Ethan Rarick presents the full horror and bravery of a dystopian episode that would forever qualify the California experience. -- Kevin Starr, University of Southern California, author of, Like the foreboding passages in an operatic overture, the ordeal of the Donner Party warned Americans that tragedy could not be banished from this newly acquired province. In this meticulously detailed narrative, Ethan Rarick presents the full horror and bravery of a dystopian episode thatwould forever qualify the California experience. -- Kevin Starr, University of Southern California, author of Americans and the California Dream|9780195305029|, "Desperate Passage is a wise book, not only a horror or an adventure story but a universal and timeless tale about acts of desperation performed by average people under extreme conditions - a situation that can befall coal miners in Utah, soccer teams in the Andes, occupants of the World TradeCenter, or readers of the book."--Philip L. Fradkin, author of Wallace Stegner and the American West, "This sober, unflinching look at one of the great tragedies of America's pioneering past tells us a great deal that is new about the Donner Party's trials. Rarick scythes away the myths of one of the nation's better-known sagas, and offers up this horrific but ennobling tale in all its freshly researched detail. Readers take heed: this is a tough book, but a gripping one."--Simon Winchester, author of Krakatoa "Desperate Passage is a wise book, not only a horror or an adventure story but a universal and timeless tale about acts of desperation performed by average people under extreme conditions - a situation that can befall coal miners in Utah, soccer teams in the Andes, occupants of the World Trade Center, or readers of the book."--Philip L. Fradkin, author of Wallace Stegner and the American West "Rarick illuminates this classic America stage through a deftly told drama of courage and cowardice...with a fascinating cast ranging from the iconic American Everyman to the astonishing scoundrels."--Van Gordon Sauter, former President, CBSNews "Like the foreboding passages in an operatic overture, the ordeal of the Donner Party warned Americans that tragedy could not be banished from this newly acquired province. In this meticulously detailed narrative, Ethan Rarick presents the full horror and bravery of a dystopian episode that would forever qualify the California experience."--Kevin Starr, University of Southern California, author of Americans and the California Dream "The story of the ill-fated Donner Party's trek across the country is the reverse image of Lewis and Clark's: seemingly everything that could go wrong, did go wrong -- from bad leadership todisastrous choices, from fatal accidents to murderous fights, and finally a ghastly ordeal in the Sierra snows. It's a remarkable story for all generations, and with the advantage of updated research and a keen eye for detail, Ethan Rarick builds a quick-moving narrative."--Dayton Duncan, author of Out West: An American Journey Along the Lewis and Clark Trail, "The story of the ill-fated Donner Party's trek across the country is the reverse image of Lewis and Clark's: seemingly everything that could go wrong, did go wrong -- from bad leadership to disastrous choices, from fatal accidents to murderous fights, and finally a ghastly ordeal in theSierra snows. It's a remarkable story for all generations, and with the advantage of updated research and a keen eye for detail, Ethan Rarick builds a quick-moving narrative."--Dayton Duncan, author of Out West: An American Journey Along the Lewis and Clark Trail, "This sober, unflinching look at one of the great tragedies of America's pioneering past tells us a great deal that is new about the Donner Party's trials. Rarick scythes away the myths of one of the nation's better-known sagas, and offers up this horrific but ennobling tale in all itsfreshly researched detail. Readers take heed: this is a tough book, but a gripping one." -- Simon Winchester, author of Krakatoa, "His is the first significant book, written, like Stewart's, in a novelistic mode and likely to gain popular readership, to incorporate this new data.... Rarick's account is not really about science; it's about humanity.... Rarick has done his homework."--New York Times Book Review "This sober, unflinching look at one of the great tragedies of America's pioneering past tells us a great deal that is new about the Donner Party's trials. Rarick scythes away the myths of one of the nation's better-known sagas, and offers up this horrific but ennobling tale in all its freshly researched detail. Readers take heed: this is a tough book, but a gripping one."--Simon Winchester, author of Krakatoa "Desperate Passage is a wise book, not only a horror or an adventure story but a universal and timeless tale about acts of desperation performed by average people under extreme conditions - a situation that can befall coal miners in Utah, soccer teams in the Andes, occupants of the World Trade Center, or readers of the book."--Philip L. Fradkin, author of Wallace Stegner and the American West "Rarick illuminates this classic America stage through a deftly told drama of courage and cowardice...with a fascinating cast ranging from the iconic American Everyman to the astonishing scoundrels."--Van Gordon Sauter, former President, CBSNews "Like the foreboding passages in an operatic overture, the ordeal of the Donner Party warned Americans that tragedy could not be banished from this newly acquired province. In this meticulously detailed narrative, Ethan Rarick presents the full horror and bravery of a dystopian episode that would forever qualify the California experience."--Kevin Starr, University of Southern California, author of Americans and the California Dream "The story of the ill-fated Donner Party's trek across the country is the reverse image of Lewis and Clark's: seemingly everything that could go wrong, did go wrong -- from bad leadership to disastrous choices, from fatal accidents to murderous fights, and finally a ghastly ordeal in the Sierra snows. It's a remarkable story for all generations, and with the advantage of updated research and a keen eye for detail, Ethan Rarick builds a quick-moving narrative."--Dayton Duncan, author of Out West: An American Journey Along the Lewis and Clark Trail, "His is the first significant book, written, like Stewart's, in a novelistic mode and likely to gain popular readership, to incorporate this new data.... Rarick's account is not really about science; it's about humanity.... Rarick has done his homework."--New York Times Book Review, "The story of the ill-fated Donner Party's trek across the country is thereverse image of Lewis and Clark's: seemingly everything that could go wrong,did go wrong -- from bad leadership to disastrous choices, from fatal accidentsto murderous fights, and finally a ghastly ordeal in the Sierra snows. It's aremarkable story for all generations, and with the advantage of updated researchand a keen eye for detail, Ethan Rarick builds a quick-movingnarrative."--Dayton Duncan, author of Out West: An American Journey Along theLewis and Clark Trail, "Rarick illuminates this classic America stage through a deftly told drama of courage and cowardice...with a fascinating cast ranging from the iconic American Everyman to the astonishing scoundrels."--Van Gordon Sauter, former President, CBSNews, "Desperate Passage is a wise book, not only a horror or an adventure storybut a universal and timeless tale about acts of desperation performed by averagepeople under extreme conditions - a situation that can befall coal miners inUtah, soccer teams in the Andes, occupants of the World Trade Center, or readersof the book."--Philip L. Fradkin, author of Wallace Stegner and the AmericanWest
Table of Content
Prologue1. Jumping off2. Catching Up3. Vexatiously Slow4. Pleasure Trip5. Fine Style6. The Crucial Decision7. Gambling8. A New and Interesting Region9. Unearthly10. One Bad Hill11. Abandoned12. The Mouth of Hell, The River of Life13. A Great Snowy Range14. This Prison15. The First Death16. The Forlorn Hope17. A Low Situation18. Taking the Field19. Our Present Calamity20. Fellowbeings21. From California, or Heaven?22. Threshold of Desperation23. Weeping24. Gruesome Sights25. Terror, Terror26. A Broken Promise27. Alive Yet28. None for Tears29. The Last Man30. A Beautiful Country31. A Day of RenownAcknowledgmentsAuthor's NoteNotesSelected Bibliography
Copyright Date
2008
Lccn
2007-023761
Dewey Decimal
979.437
Dewey Edition
22
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eBay item number:255842179323
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Product ratings and reviews
Most relevant reviews
- Apr 04, 2012
Excellent addition to the Donner Party history
- Apr 05, 2018
Very good
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-OwnedSold by: bigheartedbooks
- Feb 23, 2017
Great interpretation of the events
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-OwnedSold by: thrift.books
- Dec 27, 2021
donner party
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-OwnedSold by: second.sale
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