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A review by benryandeer
The Frontiersmen: A Narrative by Allan W. Eckert
4.0
Eckert’s extensively researched narrative non-fiction is a triumph. Not only was its level of detail, knowledge, and interpretation deep but its storyline and dialogue captivating.
Personally, being born and raised in Pittsburgh, reading about the settling of the frontier in my area was fascinating, and I was constantly looking up modern names for the original settlements.
I did find reading about the true history of the Native American genocide disheartening, as the main character of the book was determined only to advance the lands of the young US. I frequently found myself at odds with his heroics, as they were often at the expense of some great tribal nation who only sought to maintain the land they were born in.
How different it would have been if the tribal amalgamation had been a success, and how sad it is that our destruction of their way of life and reneging of sworn treaties are what often get left out of US textbooks.
Personally, being born and raised in Pittsburgh, reading about the settling of the frontier in my area was fascinating, and I was constantly looking up modern names for the original settlements.
I did find reading about the true history of the Native American genocide disheartening, as the main character of the book was determined only to advance the lands of the young US. I frequently found myself at odds with his heroics, as they were often at the expense of some great tribal nation who only sought to maintain the land they were born in.
How different it would have been if the tribal amalgamation had been a success, and how sad it is that our destruction of their way of life and reneging of sworn treaties are what often get left out of US textbooks.