Saturday, February 02, 2008

New book released

Well, Ethan Rarick's new book on the Donner Party is officially out. Desperate Passage: The Donner Party's Perilous Journey West (Oxford University Press) has been available at Amazon.com for about a month now, but today's New York Times, the San Jose Mercury News, and other papers have published reviews, generally favorable. At last we have an up-to-date narrative history of the Donner Party that incorporates the latest research (much of it mine), and overall I give the book a thumbs-up. Experienced followers of the Donner saga are unlikely to find any startling new information and Donner fanatics might find much to quibble with, but for more casual readers, it's a worthwhile addition to the literature.

2 comments:

Rhino said...

I highly recommend this book...well-written and a fast read.Author posts his research at the end of the book in great detail.

Kristin Johnson said...

Glad you like it. I have some reservations -- I especially object to the Reed-bashing -- but all-in-all, it's not bad.