Brave CompanionsFrom Alexander von Humboldt to Charles and Anne Lindbergh, these are stories of people of great vision and daring whose achievements continue to inspire us today, brilliantly told by master historian David McCullough. The bestselling author of Truman and John Adams, David McCullough has written profiles of exceptional men and women past and present who have not only shaped the course of history or changed how we see the world but whose stories express much that is timeless about the human condition. Here are Alexander von Humboldt, whose epic explorations of South America surpassed the Lewis and Clark expedition; Harriet Beecher Stowe, “the little woman who made the big war”; Frederic Remington; the extraordinary Louis Agassiz of Harvard; Charles and Anne Lindbergh, and their fellow long-distance pilots Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Beryl Markham; Harry Caudill, the Kentucky lawyer who awakened the nation to the tragedy of Appalachia; and David Plowden, a present-day photographer of vanishing America. Different as they are from each other, McCullough’s subjects have in common a rare vitality and sense of purpose. These are brave companions: to each other, to David McCullough, and to the reader, for with rare storytelling ability McCullough brings us into the times they knew and their very uncommon lives. |
Contents
CHAPTER ONE Journey to the Top of the World | 3 |
CHAPTER TWO The American Adventure of Louis Agassiz | 20 |
CHAPTER THREE The Unexpected Mrs Stowe | 37 |
CHAPTER FOUR Glory Days in Medora | 55 |
CHAPTER FIVE Remington | 69 |
CHAPTER SIX Steam Road to El Dorado | 89 |
CHAPTER SEVEN The Builders | 105 |
CHAPTER EIGHT The Treasure from the Carpentry Shop | 118 |
CHAPTER ELEVEN The Lonely War of a Good Angry Man | 145 |
CHAPTER TWELVE Miriam Rothschild | 166 |
A Day with | 175 |
CHAPTER FOURTEEN Washington on the Potomac | 195 |
CHAPTER FIFTEEN Extraordinary Times | 210 |
CHAPTER SIXTEEN Recommended Itinerary | 220 |
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Simon Willards Clock | 226 |
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