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The Moonshine Mule: A 2,700-mile Walk From Mexico To Manhattan
Vol. IV The Explorers Club Classics Series
In the summer of 1863 Colonel Arthur Fremantle traveled through America at the height of the Civil War. Almost 140 years later, Tom Fremantle set off on the same journey.
While Colonel Arthur rode on stagecoaches, steam trains, and Mississippi river skiffs, his less sensible descendant slogged the entire way on foot. Colonel Arthur flirted with saucy belles, Tom Fremantle kept company with a cantankerous eleven-year-old mule called Browny. Colonel Arthur set out at a time when America was ripping itself apart, while Tom Fremantle--who started his walk ten days before the September 11 attacks on New York--witnessed a country never more united.
While on his journey Fremantle visits the last battlefield of the Civil War with a baby-faced Brownsville journalist, enjoys the Day of the Dead in Progresso, joins and parts ways with a drunkard, sleeps in a church, and buys a beer from Jerry Lee Lewis’s sister.
This is a story that will make you look at America, mules, and the human spirit in a whole new light. It is about two men, two contrasting worlds, and a cynical but heroic beast of burden.
In the summer of 1863 Colonel Arthur Fremantle traveled through America at the height of the Civil War. Almost 140 years later, Tom Fremantle set off on the same journey.
While Colonel Arthur rode on stagecoaches, steam trains, and Mississippi river skiffs, his less sensible descendant slogged the entire way on foot. Colonel Arthur flirted with saucy belles, Tom Fremantle kept company with a cantankerous eleven-year-old mule called Browny. Colonel Arthur set out at a time when America was ripping itself apart, while Tom Fremantle--who started his walk ten days before the September 11 attacks on New York--witnessed a country never more united.
While on his journey Fremantle visits the last battlefield of the Civil War with a baby-faced Brownsville journalist, enjoys the Day of the Dead in Progresso, joins and parts ways with a drunkard, sleeps in a church, and buys a beer from Jerry Lee Lewis’s sister.
This is a story that will make you look at America, mules, and the human spirit in a whole new light. It is about two men, two contrasting worlds, and a cynical but heroic beast of burden.
- GenresNonfiction
371 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2003
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About the author
Tom Fremantle
4 books1 followerTom is the author of three travel memoirs –Johnny Ginger’s Last Ride (Macmillan), The Moonshine Mule and The Road to Timbuktu (Constable). After completing a degree in nursing, Tom drew on his experiences in his very successful memoir Nurse! Nurse! under the pseudonym Jimmy Frazier.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 4, 2019
A delightfully eccentric concept of a journey which neatly bridges a family generational gap for our pleasure, keeping things lively and interesting at a pace way beyond that of a muleteer and his charge.
His writing and observational prowess make this an exceptional travel book, introducing us to a battalion of characters and showing that perhaps the differences between the modern world and that in the American Civil War are not quite so far apart after all.
Packed with trivia and history this is fascinating on a number of other levels and was a joy to read.
Fabulous.
His writing and observational prowess make this an exceptional travel book, introducing us to a battalion of characters and showing that perhaps the differences between the modern world and that in the American Civil War are not quite so far apart after all.
Packed with trivia and history this is fascinating on a number of other levels and was a joy to read.
Fabulous.
March 22, 2012
I love it, and not just beause Fremantle trashes a lot of the American South. Entertaining, and always interesting to see the US through European eyes.
January 20, 2013
Everything I enjoy in a travel book was here. Adventure and endurance, interesting people and places, history, humour and animals. Excellent!
November 3, 2015
This is a great read for anyone who likes travel books, or the Civil War. Also a great look at the US from a Brit point of view.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews