THE ARK OF EMPIRE

by Dale n Every ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 1963

Subtitled: The American Frontier, 1784-1803, and with a foreword by Henry teele Commager, this third book by the author of A Company of Heroes and Forth to the Wilderness tells of the westward migration that followed the Revolution and of the trials endured by the settlers on the new frontier. In 1784 England, ""by providential diplomatic accident"", ceded to the United States a vast expanse of western wilderness which was also claimed by France and Spain. The United States, left in condition of disunion by the war and lacking a central government, was unable to control this region, into which land-hungry migrants poured over dangerous tracks to establish settlements and farms. France and Spain made inroads into this wilderness, and the incredible American General, James Wilkinson, a spy for Spain, plotted against his own country to set up an empire of his own in the West. England, hoping to regain all America, organized her Indian allies to attack the whites along the entire frontier in a war fought for years with incredible barbarity on both sides. The determination of the frontiersmen alone saved the West for America: ""men whose ke had never been seen before"" who stood off the Indians without help from Congress. In 1794, with the defeat of Little Turtle by the long-drilled ""American egion"" under ""Mad Anthony"" Wayne, the Indian menace was at last ended; nine years later Jefferson, through another ""diplomatic accident"", purchased Louisiana from rance. This meticulously documented book is one for professional historians rather than for casual readers, who may find the tale, an exciting one often over-looked in textbooks, weighted down by a heavy-handed style and an excess of detail.

Pub Date: Sept. 18, 1963

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1963

Categories: NONFICTION