''Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West'' (), written by Stephen Ambrose, is a 1996 biography of

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...

of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

. The book is based on journals and letters written by Lewis,

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

and the members of the

Corps of Discovery The Corps of Discovery was a specially established unit of the United States Army which formed the nucleus of the Lewis and Clark Expedition that took place between May 1804 and September 1806. The Corps was led jointly by Captain Meriwether Lewi ...

. While most of the book is dedicated to the expedition, several chapters are also devoted to Lewis's early life as a Virginia planter and Jefferson's personal secretary, and his later life as governor of the

Louisiana Territory The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805, until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed the Missouri Territory. The territory was formed out of t ...

before his untimely death in 1809.

Review

The book outlines the expedition in detail including the route, interactions with Native Americans, scientific discoveries, wildlife, and landscape. As a biography, the book is focused entirely on Lewis - Clark, Sacagawea and the others are addressed principally in their interactions with Lewis. The expedition, and Lewis' life as a whole, is placed within the broader context of Jefferson's presidency, the opening of the American west, and early Indian Policy. The text is supplemented by maps and illustrations, including some drawn by Lewis himself. The book was number 1 ''New York Times'' Bestseller in 1996.

Cancelled television series

In May 2014,

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

announced plans to produce a six-part miniseries based on the book titled ''Lewis and Clark''. It starred

Casey Affleck Casey Affleck (born Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt; August 12, 1975) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Casey Affleck, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film ...

as Meriwether Lewis,

Matthias Schoenaerts Matthias Schoenaerts ( , ; born 8 December 1977) is a Belgian actor. He made his film debut at the age of 13 in ''Daens (film), Daens'' (1992), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He is best known for his rol ...

as William Clark, and

Tanaya Beatty Tanaya Beatty (born February 12, 1991) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as List of Twilight cast members#Humans, Rachel Black in the movie adaptation of ''The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1'' as well as her starring roles a ...

as Sacagawea, with

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...

, and

Edward Norton Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. After graduating from Yale College in 1991 with a degree in history, he worked for a few months in Japan before moving to New York City ...

as executive producers. Filming began in

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

during the summer of 2015. However, production was halted the following August after director John Curran and cinematographer Rob Hardy left the project due to creative differences. In February 2016, HBO shut down production on the series.

References

External links

New York Times book review

Presentation by Ambrose on ''Undaunted Courage'', March 29, 1996

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

Presentation by Ambrose on Bernard DeVoto's edition of the Journals of Lewis and Clark

American biographies History books about the United States 1996 non-fiction books Books by Stephen Ambrose Lewis and Clark Expedition Cultural depictions of Sacagawea History books about exploration {{US-bio-book-stub