Francis Parkman

By Howard Doughty

Book Overview

Best known as author of The Oregon Trail, Francis Parkman is now increasingly recognized as one of the greatest nineteenthcentury American historians. In Pontiac, Pioneers, La Salle and Montcalm and Wolfe, Parkman, more than anyone else, first grasped the tragic element implicit in our pioneer heritage and placed the opening up of the great North American wilderness in broad historical perspective.Handsome, brilliant, courageous, Parkman drove himself relentlessly. The result was a severe breakdown in his twenties, complicated in later years by other illnesses. This interpretative biography chronicles his triumph over these setbacks and sheds new light on the impressive histories that seem to become ever more contemporary with the passage of time.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674317750
• ISBN13: 9780674317758
• Release Date: January 1983
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 424 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Parkman the Historian

This book is primarily a recounting of Parkman's life, but even more it's a commentary on the great histories he wrote. Parkman's life is somewhat familiar: the priveledged family, the early treks to the Mogalloway River in Maine, the Oregon Trail saga, the debilitating illness, even the champion horticulturist - Doughty deals with these biographical pieces well. But he is more interested in analyzing Parkman's books, especially his views as a historian of the epic battle of the wilderness between France and England. Parkman was one of our greatest historical writers, and Doughty makes us appreciate that in this book.