Francis Parkman – författare

The Oregon Trail is the gripping account of Francis Parkman's journey west across North America in 1846. After crossing the Allegheny Mountains by coach and continuing by boat and wagon to Westport, Missouri, he set out with three companions on a horseback journey that would ultimately take him over two thousand miles. In the course of his travels, Parkman encountered numerous Indians, living among a Sioux tribe for a time, as well as meeting traders, trappers, and emigrants searching for a new life. His detailed description of the journey, set against the vast majesty of the Great Plains, has emerged through the generations as a classic narrative of one man's exploration of the American Wilderness. It is a journey which has shaped our picture of mid-nineteenth-century America and which has influenced our perception of American civilization. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

On April 28, 1846, Francis Parkman left Saint Louis on his first expedition west. The Oregon Trail documents his adventures in the wilderness, sheds light on America's westward expansion, and celebrates the American spirit.

The Oregon Trail is the gripping account of Francis Parkman''s journey west across North America in 1846. After crossing the Allegheny Mountains by coach and continuing by boat and wagon to Westport, Missouri, he set out with three companions on a horseback journey that would ultimately take him over two thousand miles. In the course of his travels, Parkman encountered numerous Indians, living among a Sioux tribe for a time, as well as meeting traders, trappers, and emigrants searching for a new life. His detailed description of the journey, set against the vast majesty of the Great Plains, has emerged through the generations as a classic narrative of one man''s exploration of the American Wilderness. It is a journey which has shaped our picture of mid-nineteenth-century America and which has influenced our perception of American civilization. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

The Oregon Trail is the gripping account of Francis Parkman''s journey west across North America in 1846. After crossing the Allegheny Mountains by coach and continuing by boat and wagon to Westport, Missouri, he set out with three companions on a horseback journey that would ultimately take him over two thousand miles. In the course of his travels, Parkman encountered numerous Indians, living among a Sioux tribe for a time, as well as meeting traders, trappers, and emigrants searching for a new life. His detailed description of the journey, set against the vast majesty of the Great Plains, has emerged through the generations as a classic narrative of one man''s exploration of the American Wilderness. It is a journey which has shaped our picture of mid-nineteenth-century America and which has influenced our perception of American civilization. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Montcalme and Wolfe frames the war years through the lives of its two brilliant opposing generals. Weaving together the campaigns on both sides of the Atlantic. Parkman travels from opulent royal courts to muddy colonial fields, from Fort Necessity to the Plains of Abraham. He couples impeccable history with rich insightful narration, revealing the war as a deeply personal conflict between Louis de Montcalm and James Wolfe, the two ambitious leaders who ultimately died heroes' deaths on the frontlines. Accompanied by over forty detailed maps and illustrations,some selected specially for this edition,Parkman's timeless work shows how the enormous transfer of land from France to England at the war's end sowed the first seeds of colonialism,seeds that, in the due course, led America to its revolution, and eventually, its independence.

The result of over forty years of passionate research, Montcalm and Wolfe is the epic story of Europe''s struggle for dominance of the New World. Centuries of rivalry and greed between the great imperial powers culminated in five brutal years of war; resulted in the death of both generals, Louis de Montcalm and James Wolfe; and ultimately sowed the seeds of the American Revolution, fought a scant seventeen years later. A brilliant work of scholarship as well as a riveting read, Montcalm and Wolfe was thought by many, including the author, to be Parkman''s greatest work. It is an essential part of any military history collection. The books in the Modern Library War series have been chosen by serieseditor Caleb Carr according to the significance of their subject matter, their contribution to the field of military history, and their literary merit.

René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle (1643-1687), one of the most legendary explorers of the New World, is best known for claiming the entire Louisiana Territory for France in 1682. Two years later, he was given the order to colonize and govern the great expanse of territory between Lake Michigan and the Gulf of Mexico. He set out from France with four ships but never reached his destination. Landing somewhere in East Texas, he and his men were ravaged by disease, weakened by hard labor, even gored by buffalo as they tried to locate the mouth of the Mississippi River, which was obscured by the sandy sameness of the Gulf coastline. In 1687, on a third attempt to locate the river by an overland route, La Salle was murdered by his own men in the desolate country between the Trinity and Brazos rivers. His body was never found.First published in 1869, La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West is the vivid, richly detailed story of that final grim expedition, told by America''s foremost historian.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Francis Parkman, America's greatest narrative historian, immortal for The Oregon Trail (1849), devoted much of his career to writing about the struggle of France and England for domination in America. The Conspiracy of Pontiac is an account of the Indian wars that occurred on the Appalachian frontier, extending from western Virginia to what is now Wisconsin and Michigan, in 1763-65. Parkman portrays the inflammatory situation that led up to and followed the French and Indian War. With France's loss of its North American colonies in 1763, the English took possession of French posts, English traders swarmed into Indian areas, and Anglo-American settlers pushed westward into what is now western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. The consequence was widespread conflict—usually known as Pontiac's War, after the Ottawa leader. Volume 1 begins with a discussion of Indian tribes east of the Mississippi River, with emphasis on the Iroquois and Algonquin families. Parkman expands to include the French and British in the New World and their inevitable collision. Chief Pontiac enters the picture after the surrender of Canada by the French at Montreal in 1760. Because the French had befriended the Indians, the latter soon felt discontent with the victorious English. Revolt was in the air, and Parkman describes Pontiac's "conspiracy" in directing a siege against Detroit. Volume 2 shows the British forts and settlements in America under attack in 1763 by Pontiac's coalition of tribes. Pontiac made peace with the English in 1765, and four years later came to a violent end.

Francis Parkman, America's greatest narrative historian, immortal for The Oregon Trail (1849), devoted much of his career to writing about the struggle of France and England for domination in America. The Conspiracy of Pontiac is an account of the Indian wars that occurred on the Appalachian frontier, extending from western Virginia to what is now Wisconsin and Michigan, in 1763-65. Parkman portrays the inflammatory situation that led up to and followed the French and Indian War. With France's loss of its North American colonies in 1763, the English took possession of French posts, English traders swarmed into Indian areas, and Anglo-American settlers pushed westward into what is now western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. The consequence was widespread conflict—usually known as Pontiac's War, after the Ottawa leader.Volume 1 begins with a discussion of Indian tribes east of the Mississippi River, with emphasis on the Iroquois and Algonquin families. Parkman expands to include the French and British in the New World and their inevitable collision. Chief Pontiac enters the picture after the surrender of Canada by the French at Montreal in 1760. Because the French had befriended the Indians, the latter soon felt discontent with the victorious English. Revolt was in the air, and Parkman describes Pontiac's "conspiracy" in directing a siege against Detroit. Volume 2 shows the British forts and settlements in America under attack in 1763 by Pontiac's coalition of tribes. Pontiac made peace with the English in 1765, and four years later came to a violent end.

This Library of America volume, along with its companion, presents, for the first time in compact form, all seven titles of Francis Parkman’s monumental account of France and England’s imperial struggle for dominance on the North American continent. Deservedly compared as a literary achievement to Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Parkman’s accomplishment is hardly less awesome than the explorations and adventures he so vividly describes.Pioneers of France in the New World (1865) begins with the early and tragic settlement of the French Huguenots in Florida, then shifts to the northern reaches of the continent and follows the expeditions of Samuel de Champlain up the St. Lawrence River and into the Great Lakes as he mapped the wilderness, organized the fur trade, promoted Christianity among the natives, and waged a savage forest campaign against the Iroquois.The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century (1867) traces the zealous efforts of the Jesuits and other Roman Catholic orders to convert the Native American tribes of North America. La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West (1869) records that explorer’s voyages on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and his treks, often alone, across the vast western prairies and through the labyrinthine swamps of Louisiana. The Old Régime in Canada (1874) recounts the political struggles among the religious sects, colonial officials, feudal chiefs, royal ministers, and military commanders of Canada. Their bitter fights over the monopoly of the fur trade, the sale of brandy to the natives, the importation of wives from the orphanages and poorhouses of France, and the bizarre fanaticism of religious extremists and their “incessant supernaturalism” animate this pioneering social history of early Canada. LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.