Ambrose, Stephen E. This vast land; a young man's journal of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Simon & Schuster. 304p. c2003. 0-689-86448-5. $17.95. JS

This posthumous book by the famous historian commemorating the bicentennial of the journey of the Corps of Discovery is his only work of fiction. George Shannon was a real teenager, the youngest member of the expedition. In this novel in diary form, Ambrose imagines what his experience might have been like. Only 17 at the start of the journey, George walks from his hometown of Philadelphia to Pittsburgh to convince Captain Lewis to take him along despite his lack of experience. In the journal Lewis gives him, George records the expedition's progress and its many trials: the hard work, the danger from rattlers, bears, and thieving Indian tribes, the illnesses and lack of food at times. He also tells of the exhilaration of running rapids, the joy of hunting, the beauty of the landscape, and the thrill of crossing the Rockies and reaching the Pacific. George gives his impressions of the people on the expedition, too, and praises Sacajawea for her invaluable help and York for his strength. He falls in love with a Native American girl and has a baby with her, only to lose them, and his leg, in a bloody battle after the expedition returns. He becomes a lawyer, happy in the end to have chosen civilization over the lure of the wilderness, and helps prepare the journals of the expedition for publication. His journal is told in the vernacular of the day, complete with odd capitalizations and grammar, adding to its authentic feel. The diary entries are mostly quite short, giving the narrative a choppy feel, but the events are often dramatic and the descriptions are colorful and frequently earthy--there is a bit of sex, some violence, and much injury and disease. A worthy supplement to classroom studies of the expedition.