Product Description

October 11, 2009 marks the bicentennial of Meriwether Lewis's death. As the leader of the Lewis and Clark expedition, an epic exploration of uncharted territory west of the Mississippi, Lewis has been the subject of several biographies, yet much of the published information is unreliable. A number of myths surrounding his life and death persist.

Now independent scholars Thomas C. Danisi and John C. Jackson have written this definitive biography based on twelve years of meticulous research. They have re-examined the original Lewis and Clark documents and searched through obscure and overlooked sources to reveal a wealth of fascinating new information on the enigmatic character and life of Meriwether Lewis.

Instead of focusing on the Lewis and Clark expedition, the authors concentrate on what Lewis was doing immediately before and after the journey through Western territory. They assess his role as a natural scientist and as governor of the Louisiana Territory. His lifelong mentor, Thomas Jefferson, thrust the latter role upon Lewis during a time of crisis. As Danisi and Jackson reveal, he would much rather have devoted this time compiling his notes and scientific findings into a vivid narrative of the expedition's adventures.

Finally, using medical documentation, the book reveals the actual cause of Lewis's untimely death. The authors address both the conspiracy theories regarding murder as the cause of Lewis's death and the longstanding belief that he committed suicide.

The Meriwether Lewis that emerges from this thoroughly researched biography is a man of honorable intentions who met severe challenges and handled difficult confrontations with patience and diplomacy. Both professional historians and armchair devotees of American history will want to add this important new work to their libraries.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #146745 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 424 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781591027027
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Independent historians Danisi and Jackson offer a meticulously researched, if occasionally obsessive, account of Meriwether Lewis's life, focused primarily on the tragically short years after the famous Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804–1806. The authors propose the novel but credible theory that Lewis's mysterious 1809 death, generally considered a suicide, was a result of unwitting self-poisoning with mercury treatments for his recurring, debilitating bouts of malaria. In the process, the authors also effectively debunk conspiracy theorists' suggestions that Lewis was murdered. After the expedition, Lewis served as governor of the Louisiana territory, was embroiled in the convoluted and harsh politics of the territory and worked sedulously on Indian affairs. Although Danisi and Jackson's choice to focus on Lewis's post-1806 life is understandable given the numerous expedition histories, Lewis's last years will be less compelling to many readers than his iconic journey across the American continent. In the end, regardless of how well researched and insightful, this work is likely to be appreciated almost exclusively by professional historians and Lewis and Clark enthusiasts. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

openlettersmonthly.com/blog/microreview-meriwether-lewis-by-thomas-c-danisi-and-john-c-jackson/

"It's hard to believe that Thomas Danisi and John Jackson have written the first comprehensive, full-length biography of Meriwether Lewis in fifty years, but it s true...[they] are authoritative and interesting on every part of Lewis life, not just the last part, and of course they keep their eyes always on that great voyage and the book that was expected to come out of it..." --Steve Donoghue from Open Letters Monthly, A Monthly Arts and Literature Review; May 8, 2009

About the Author
Thomas C. Danisi (St. Louis, MO) and John C. Jackson (Olympia, WA) are freelance writers and historians. In 2004, they received a grant from the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation to research this book. Jackson is the author of four books on the history of the Pacific Northwest.

Customer Reviews

A Man For All Ages
He is best known for being half of the eponymous exploration team of Lewis and Clark. Merriwether Lewis and William Clark are known for the expedition which took them across the Louisiana Purchase and on to the Pacific Ocean in the beginning of the 19th century. Other than his famous travails across the continent and help in ushering in Manifest Destiny, surprisingly little has been written on the depth of Lewis's life experiences. Enter Thomas C. Danisi and John C. Jackson, authors of the new biography of Lewis, entitled //Merriwether Lewis.//

Danisi and Jackson have constructed a compelling tale of Lewis, how he came to be known by President Thomas Jefferson (his personal secretary), and why he should have been an even better known character in the history of America. As they write in the introduction, it is also their belief that Lewis was not murdered in the early 19th century. (This has been an ongoing debate, as Lewis was only in his mid-thirties at the time of his death.) The authors appear to assume the death was attributable to a terrible bout of malaria, overpowering pain, and a desire to end the suffering by his own hand. The authors explain the premise of their book as one which fleshes out Lewis, his great accomplishments, and what his contributions meant to the United States.

//Merriwether Lewis// is an intriguing and engrossing book which seeks to offer a seasoned glimpse into the short but eventful life of a man who perhaps receives less credit and renowned today than he deserved.

Reviewed by
Susie Kopecky

A Reasoned Review of "Meriwether Lewis"
While reading "Meriwether Lewis" in my spare time I kept track of the reviews on Amazon, and the review by LEllen quite surprised me. What she liked the least was what appealed to me the most. I prefer stories about people to the stories of events, to the extent that they can be separated. Heretical as it may sound to history buffs I was not interested in reading more about the expedition, but I was very interested in the story of Lewis' life. The background information of his personal relationships with Thomas Jefferson and William Clark, his search for a bride, his difficulties as a governor and as an author showed me the man behind the hero. Equally interesting were the explanations of the problems of integrating the Louisiana Purchase into the new nation, which gave me a sense of how much it was a Wild West that preceded the days of cowboys and Indians.
As to it being an extended treatise on his mysterious death, I gather that the author's new theory on the death of Lewis was indeed the point of the book, but the pages devoted to the days regarding his death are precious few compared to the life story that precedes them, though there were plentiful forebodings mixed into earlier pages.
As for the writing style, it was not Harry Potter but it was as readable as I expected in a scholarly work. I too was initially puzzled by the shifting from a straight chronological order to what seemed to be a topical treatment of different aspects of Lewis' life but I reluctantly adjusted to it. Perhaps the authors anticipated a more scholarly audience who would come to the book with a sense of the chronology already in mind. In any case though far from a history scholar, I was able to appreciate "Meriwether Lewis" for what it did well, giving a detailed and well researched history of Meriwether Lewis the man..

Collections seeking a fuller, in-depth profile of early American figureheads can't go wrong with this one
Any college-level collection strong in early American history will find MERIWETHER LEWIS a powerfully detailed, in-depth study. 12 years of meticulous research into original and obscure sources and documents from the original Lewis and Clark expedition lend to a focus on what Lewis was doing just before and after his famous journey, offering a different focus on his many different roles and achievements above and beyond the expedition. Collections seeking a fuller, in-depth profile of early American figureheads can't go wrong with this one.