The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner party in the age of manifest destiny by Michael Wallis is an audio book that I picked up at some point new. I cannot remember why.
Started: 7/10/2019
Completed: 7/29/2019
Recommendation: Recommended with care and caution
Recommended By: Nobody
Review:
It was surprising to me that Lincoln had known a member of the Donner Party. It was almost equally shocking to me that Lincoln and Stephen Douglas had been in the same military command during the Black Hawk War. Finally, you can imagine my surprise when I found that one of the Donner Party (James Reed) had gotten his start in Galena, Ill. which was a location for one of Grant's homes in his retirement.
I was also surprised to find out that relatives of Daniel Boone had been among the party. It really does feel like the United States was a big place with few people in it.
This is a historical perspective. It is not a memoir of one of the members, nor is it simply a retelling of previous descriptions. This is an effort to put the entire event within historical context, to describe events in as even handed a manner as possible, and to also provide a compelling narrative. The writing is not fantastic, but there is enough there to keep my attention and the subject matter has enough myth around it that it was nice to dispel some of the exaggerations.
The horror these people faced, the courage with which they faced it, and the heroism of those who provided relief feels like it belongs to another time. Such an odd combination of carefully thought out mistakes, underestimation, and will power is hard to imagine.
I recommend this book with care as it is true and horrible. I recommend this book with caution as it leaves behind nightmares.
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