Lewis and Clark: Across the Divide

by Carolyn Ives Gilman

A companion to Lewis and The National Bicentennial Exhibition offers a expansive overview of the famed expedition, examining the lands traversed, the people they met along the way, and the Native American people and their culture, in a volume that includes more than four hundred photographs and illustrations. 30,000 first printing. (History)

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction, Reference

416 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Carolyn Ives Gilman has been publishing science fiction and fantasy for almost twenty years. Her first novel, Halfway Human, published by Avon/Eos in 1998, was called “one of the most compelling explorations of gender and power in recent SF” by Locus magazine. Her short fiction has appeared in magazines and anthologies such as F&SF, Bending the Landscape, The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Realms of Fantasy, The Best From Fantasy & Science Fiction, Interzone, Universe, Full Spectrum, and others. Her fiction has been translated into Italian, Russian, German, Czech and Romanian. In 1992 she was a finalist for the Nebula Award for her novella, “The Honeycrafters.”

In her professional career, Gilman is a historian specializing in 18th and early 19th-century North American history, particularly frontier and Native history. Her most recent nonfiction book, Lewis and Clark: Across the Divide, was published in 2003 by Smithsonian Books. She has been a guest lecturer at the Library of Congress, Harvard University, and Monticello, and has been interviewed on All Things Considered (NPR), Talk of the Nation (NPR), History Detectives (PBS), and the History Channel.

Carolyn Ives Gilman lives in St. Louis and works for the Missouri Historical Society as a historian and museum curator.

Reviews

[Billy Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carolyn Gilman finds what has been missed in previous research and gives a visual for what has only been seen in a reader's mind.

[Jim Gallen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Corps of Discovery’s journey was long and impacted and reported on many aspects of the Western Experience and “Lewis and Clark: Across the Divide” examines many of them through words and pictures. Written as the companion volume to “Lewis and Clark: The National Bicentennial Exhibition” it draws heavily on pictures of items of the exhibit to enhance its narrative. This is an oversize coffee-table book suitable for reading, perusing the pictures or leaving out for your guests to enjoy.

Each of the ten chapters focuses on one topic of the Corps’ experience. The Imagining of America introduces the reader to how little was known about the west and to goal of the Expedition to fill in the blank spaces. Depictions of the Land delves into how the explorers made their measurements and recorded their observations of the land across which they traveled. The diplomacy between the Corps and the Indians it encountered was different than that between European powers or Europeans and eastern Indians with whom had long histories of encounters. The role of tribal women opens new insights into native lives. The Corps encountered new animals and plants, traded between unfamiliar value systems and opened new understandings between cultures. At the end a list of the exhibit items including the loaning Museum, a description of the item and its history provide a valuable reference.

Although I had read other works about Lewis and Clark I learned quite a bit from this one. Author Carolyn Gilman views the journey from so many perspectives that readers are almost guaranteed to gather something new. The text is supplemented by hundreds of pictures of artifacts, ledgers and correspondence either used or similar to ones used by the Corps or the Indians whom it encountered, portraits, paintings, and drawings that bring to life the Lewis and Clark experience. Whether a novice or a seasoned Lewis and Clark student “Lewis and Clark: Across The Divide” is a work to read, savor and return to.

[MaryEve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get to know history. Lewis & Clark was hired to do the unthinkable, monumental task–searching for the unexplored. Brave souls. Lewis & Clark encountered Indians on their expedition. Imagine their surprise.They cheerfully hopped off into the unknown and discovered the untouched. True expeditionists. Can you imagine the sights they saw – rivers, mountain ranges, Indian villages, animals. No one in history had ever seen what they saw.

Beautiful illustrations. Coffee table size book. Published by Smithsonian Books in association with the Missouri Historical Society.

I'm a descendant of Merriwether Lewis. I have lots of books regarding him. I display this on my coffee table proudly. And I fondly refer to Merriwether as Uncle Merriwether. I inherited my wanderlust from the original bad boy of unknown expeditions himself. Salud.

[Calvin Schnurr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Profound, challenging and paradigm-shattering. Also a very attractive physical book.

[Tyler Simonds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked it - torn between 4 and 5 stars. Lewis and Clark: Across the Divide is a beautiful book where Gilman attempts to show the reader that Americans who were here before the United States invaded were just as human and sophisticated as their European counterparts. Eye-opening.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great addition to anyone reading the Journals of Lewis and Clark. Contains valuable information about the Corp of Discovery and examines it's place in history.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book about the Lewis and Clark expedition. I learnt a bunch of facts that I did not know before. It also went into how the Natives viewed the expedition.

[Lizzann]

Nonfiction background for trip. Learned so much and made our travels much more interesting.