Here are Alexander von Humboldt, whose epic explorations of South America surpassed the Lewis and Clark expedition; Harriet Beecher Stowe, the little woman who made the big war; Frederic Remington; the extraordinary Louis Agassiz of Harvard; Charles and Anne Lindbergh, and their fellow long-distance pilots Antoine de Saint-Exupery and Beryl Markham; Harry Caudill, the Kentucky lawyer who awakened the nation to the tragedy of Appalachia; and David Plowden, a present-day photographer of vanishing America.

Different as they are from each other, McCullough's subjects have in common a rare vitality and sense of purpose. These are brave companions: to each other, to David McCullough, and to the reader, for with rare storytelling ability McCullough brings us into the times they knew and their very uncommon lives.

In the words of the citation accompanying his honorary degree from Yale, "As an historian, he paints with words, giving us pictures of the American people that live, breath, and above all, confront the fundamental issues of courage, achievement, and moral character."

Author of 1776, John Adams, Truman, The Johnstown Flood, The Great Bridge, The Path between the Seas, Mornings on Horseback and Brave Companions, he has received the Pulitzer Prize twice (in 1993, for Truman, and, in 2001, for John Adams), the Francis Parkman Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and has twice won the National Book Award.

For his work overall he has been honored by the National Book Foundation Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Award, the National Humanities Medal, the St. Louis Literary Award, the Carl Sandburg Award, and the New York Public Library's Literary Lion Award. None of his books has ever been out of print.

In a crowded, productive career, Mr. McCullough has been an editor, essayist, teacher, lecturer, and familiar presence on public television — as host of Smithsonian World, The American Experience, and narrator of numerous documentaries including The Civil War and Napoleon. He is a past president of the Society of American Historians. He has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has received 31 honorary degrees.

A gifted speaker, Mr. McCullough has lectured in all parts of the country and abroad, as well as at the White House, as part of the White House presidential lecture series. He is also one of the few private citizens to be asked to speak before a joint session of Congress.

Born in Pittsburgh in 1933, Mr. McCullough was educated there and at Yale, where he was graduated with honors in English literature. An avid reader, traveler, and landscape painter, he lives in West Tisbury, Massachusetts, with his wife Rosalee Barnes McCullough. They have five children and 15 grandchildren.

Introduction

I Phenomena

CHAPTER ONE Journey to the Top of the World

CHAPTER TWO The American Adventure of Louis Agassiz

CHAPTER THREE The Unexpected Mrs. Stowe

II The Real West

CHAPTER FOUR Glory Days in Medora

CHAPTER FIVE Remington

III Pioneers

CHAPTER SIX Steam Road to El Dorado

CHAPTER SEVEN The Builders

CHAPTER EIGHT The Treasure from the Carpentry Shop

CHAPTER NINE Long-Distance Vision

IV Figures in a Landscape

CHAPTER TEN Cross the Blue Mountain

CHAPTER ELEVEN The Lonely War of a Good Angry Man

CHAPTER TWELVE Miriam Rothschild

CHAPTER THIRTEEN South of Kankakee: A Day with David Plowden

V On We Go

CHAPTER FOURTEEN Washington on the Potomac

CHAPTER FIFTEEN Extraordinary Times

CHAPTER SIXTEEN Recommended Itinerary

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Simon Willard's Clock

Index