Picked up Undaunted Courage for my b-day

its an awesome book - I guess you would need to contact the publisher about the cover

Very good book. I didn't realize he got his master's degree in history at LSU.

Nothing Like it in the world: The Men who built the Continental Railroad, was good also.

However, some historians say there were some historical errors.

I really enjoyed the book. Ambrose chose to focus on the expedition from the viewpoint of Lewis and Jefferson as opposed to Lewis and Clark. I think he says that there are a lot of books on the subject of Lewis and Clark, and not as many (or any) focusing on Lewis' and Jefferson's experiences/goals for the expedition.

Jefferson granted the commission to Lewis. Lewis grew up in the same area as Monticello, and Jefferson had known Lewis for quite a while. I believe Jefferson even tutored Lewis in natural sciences (for something like a year) before Lewis began the expedition. Jefferson gave Lewis a blank check from the US government and gave Lewis full autonomy in selecting his team. Lewis chose his friend William Clark, whom he knew from their military days, to help lead the expedition. Lewis treated Clark as an equal on the expedition and referred to Clark as a co-Captain, but technically, Clark was second-in-command as opposed to being on the same level as Clark.

I think Ambrose was trying to do something fresh with the story, and this was a way of looking at things from a different angle.