National Book Award Non Fiction Winner
The Course of Empire
by Bernard DeVoto
Summary
A panoramic history of the European exploration of North America, organized around the centuries-long search for a Northwest Passage and the gradual mapping of a continent. DeVoto braids together the journeys of Coronado, La Salle, Mackenzie, and Lewis and Clark, showing how myth, geography, and imperial rivalry shaped the political destiny of the United States. His prose is muscular and opinionated, treating the West as the central drama of American history.
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Historical Context & Significance
DeVoto was a fierce conservationist; he wrote much of this history while simultaneously leading a public campaign to save the national parks from commercial development.