First published 2006
David McCullough presents biographical portraits of remarkable individuals who transformed their fields and changed how we understand the world. The collection spans centuries and continents, featuring Alexander von Humboldt's South American expeditions that exceeded Lewis and Clark's achievements, Harriet Beecher Stowe who sparked national debate over slavery, artist Frederic Remington, Harvard's Louis Agassiz, aviators Charles and Anne Lindbergh alongside Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Beryl Markham, Kentucky lawyer Harry Caudill who exposed Appalachian poverty, and photographer David Plowden documenting disappearing America. McCullough examines what united these diverse figures across different eras. Each possessed extraordinary energy and clear purpose that drove them to reshape history or alter human perspective. The author reveals how their uncommon lives intersected with the major currents of their times, showing readers the personal qualities that enabled such remarkable achievements.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, adventure, non-fiction, 21st-century, academic, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family
Setting: America, Appalachia, South America
Period: 19th-century, 20th-century
Hardcover · Peter Smith Pub Inc