Synopses & Reviews
For more than twenty years, Tim Grove has worked at the most popular history museums in the United States, helping millions of people get acquainted with the past. This book translates that experience into an insiderand#8217;s tour of some of the most interesting moments in American history. Groveand#8217;s stories are populated with well-known historical figures such as John Brown, Charles Lindbergh, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and Sacagaweaand#8212;as well as the not-so-famous. Have you heard of Mary Pickersgill, seamstress of the Star-Spangled Banner flag? Grove also has something to say about a few of our cherished myths, for instance, the lore surrounding Betsy Ross and Eli Whitney.
Grove takes readers to historic sites such as Harpers Ferry, Fort McHenry, the Ulm Pishkun buffalo jump, and the Lemhi Pass on the Lewis and Clark Trail and traverses time and space from eighteenth-century Williamsburg to the twenty-first-century Kennedy Space Center. En route from Cape Canaveral on the Atlantic to Cape Disappointment on the Pacific, we learn about planting a cotton patch on the National Mall, riding a high wheel bicycle, flying the transcontinental airmail route, and harnessing a mule. Is history relevant? This book answers with a resounding yes and, in the most entertaining fashion, shows us why.
Review
and#8220;Tim Grove has combined a thought-provoking and entertaining memoir with an insiderand#8217;s guide to behind-the-scenes history.and#8221;and#8212;Libby H. Oand#8217;Connell, chief historian, History Channel
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and#8220;I guarantee that whether you are a history buff, a history scholar, or an and#8216;I hate historyand#8217; Scrooge, you will love this book.and#8221;and#8212;Robert K. Sutton, chief historian, National Park Service
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“Hands-on learning is what history museums do best. Tims adventures of providing fun educational experiences are engaging and inspirational.”—Cathy Gorn, executive director, National History Day Robert K. Sutton
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"Grove's book is both an inspiration and a template for those who want to kick history out of the attic and put it back where it belongs: in the national living room, slightly to the left of the television."and#8212;James Norton, Washington Post
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andquot;Though he's not fond of battlefield re-enactments, Grove thoroughly enjoys re-creating the past with appropriate objects. Essentially about the author's career in educating with artifacts, his account makes snippets of American history accessible to casual readers, who may learn of the utility of mules, the history of airmail and such miscellanea.andquot;andmdash;Kirkus
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"This semiautobiographical journey of a versatile, peregrinating public historian is instructive and inspirational for museum docents; informative for history buffs, especially those interested in the background of educational institutions outside the academy; and helpful for administrators of public programs. All readers will appreciate the author's learning techniques for eliciting questions, sparking the imagination, and promoting transcultural understanding, as well as his acknowledgement of cultural sensitivity, multiple perspectives, and changing interpretations."and#8212;Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Library Journal
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"An engaging, entertaining and educational read."—Bill Schwab, eMissourian Frederick J. Augustyn Jr. - Library Journal
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andquot;An engaging, entertaining and educational read.andquot;andmdash;Bill Schwab, eMissourian
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"For Lewis and Clark aficionados, this little volume should find a place on their bookshelves."—Publishers Weekly
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"A candid and enlightening assessment of the landmark Corps of Discovery."—Deborah Donovan, Booklist
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“For Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs, the Lewis and Clark expedition is not just a historical story; its personal, too, intertwined with her fathers and familys lives. In this book, she brings her own experiences on the trail—and especially her own passions and insights—to bear on the Corps of Discovery. Reading it is like having a lively conversation across an open campfire.”—Dayton Duncan, author of Out West: A Journey through Lewis and Clarks America
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"Her diagnosis of Meriwether Lewis's odd behavior as Asperger's syndrome, her calling for a nationwide de-idolization of Sacagawea, and her bold detailing of the "near pitfalls" and "oversights" along the way from both her family's treks as well as those on the original journey makes a new book in the pantheon of titles about this subject worth reading."—Frank X. Walker, Big Muddy
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"This book is for everyone who loves Lewis and Clark."—Patricia Ann Owens, South Dakota History
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“Lively, engaging, and well informed, here is the guide through the journals of Lewis and Clark and along the trail with the Corps of Discovery that will keep you laughing, arguing, and pondering. Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs provides delightful insights for her readers on this journey.”—Clyde A. Milner II, editor of A New Significance: Re-envisioning the History of the American West and co-editor of The Oxford History of the American West
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andquot;An enjoyable read.andquot;andmdash;Bill Markley, Roundup Magazine
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andquot;[A Grizzly in the Mail and Other Adventures in American History] is an invitation for further exploration a guidebook that suggests not just possible sites to visit and explore, but ways in which to think about whatand#39;s presented.andquot;andmdash;Karen Carcia, Wapsipinicon Almanac
Synopsis
More than two hundred years later, the “voyage of discovery”—with its outsized characters, geographic marvels, and wondrous moments of adventure and mystery—continues to draw us along the Lewis and Clark Trail. Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs first fell under the trails spell at sixteen and has been following in Lewis and Clarks path ever since. In essays historical and personal, she revisits the Lewis and Clark Trail and its famous people, landmarks, and events, exploring questions the expedition continues to raise, such as, What really motivated Thomas Jefferson to send out his agents of discovery? What “mutinous expressions” were uttered? What happened to the dog? Why did Meriwether Lewis end his own life? In the resulting trip through history, Tubbs recounts her travels along the trail by foot, Volkswagen bus, and canoe—at every turn renewing the American experience inscribed by Lewis and Clark.
About the Author
Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs serves on the board of directors for the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center Foundation, the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, and the American Prairie Foundation. She is the coauthor of The Lewis and Clark Companion: An Encyclopedic Guide to the Voyage of Discovery.