A Tour on the Prairies - Washington Irving

If Washington Irving had been with Lewis and Clark on their transcontinental journey, we would know it as a much more exciting and in-depth narrative. After recently reading a couple of different accounts of the explorers' journey, I will admit they saw and experienced fantastic things, which we can only partly experience by following their path today; but Irving makes a simple tag-along trip with another group more engaging than Lewis' or Clark's journals.

Genre: History/Autobiography

The Essential Lewis and Clark - Landon Jones (Ed.)

This was a quick, interesting read, especially if you're into history. If you're looking for a good, fairly comprehensive book on Lewis and Clark, I'd recommend Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" over this, though.

This book had the advantage of being on the short side, but that is because it consists entirely of selected quotes from Lewis and Clark's journals. Unfortunately, this leaves a lot to asked for at times and makes the book nothing especially unique. Ambrose, on the other hand, does a good job at reconstructing the entire story, adding descriptions of areas they went, other historical accounts, and making the story into a stronger narrative.

Genre: History/Biography