It was November 1806. The explorers had gone without food for one day; then two. Their leader; not yet thirty; drove on; determined to ascend the great mountain. Waist deep in snow; he reluctantly turned back. But Zebulon Pike had not been defeated. His name remained on the unclimbed peak-and new adventures lay ahead of him and his republic.In Citizen Explorer; historian Jared Orsi provides the first modern biography of this soldier and explorer; who rivaled contemporaries Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Born in 1779; Pike joined the army and served in frontier posts in the Ohio River valley before embarking on a series of astonishing expeditions. He sought the headwaters of the Mississippi and later the sources of the Arkansas and Red Rivers; which led him to Pike's Peak and capture by Spanish forces. Along the way; he met Aaron Burr and General James Wilkinson; Auguste and Pierre Couteau; patriarchs of St. Louis's most powerful fur-trading family; who sought to make themselves indispensible to Jefferson's administration; as well as British fur-traders; Native Americans; and officers of the Spanish empire; all of whom resisted the expansion of the United States. Through Pike's life; Orsi examines how American nationalism thinned as it stretched west; from the Jeffersonian idealism on the Atlantic to a practical; materialist sensibility on the frontier. Surveying and gathering data; Pike sought to incorporate these distant territories into the republic; to overlay the west with the American map grid; yet he became increasingly dependent for survival on people who had no attachment to the nation he served. He eventually died in that service; in a victorious battle in the War of 1812. Written from an environmental perspective; rich in cultural and political context; Citizen Explorer is a state-of-the-art biography of a remarkable man.
#1776923 in Books F E Peters 2010-11-10Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.40 x .90 x 9.20l; 1.05 #File Name: 0199747466240 pagesJesus and Muhammad Parallel Tracks Parallel Lives
Review
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful. To be read...By luigi pompiliMy mother language is not English and I am asking myself if it is a good idea to try a review of "Jesus and Muhammad" in a notperfectly mastered language.Anyway;I'll try to summarize my impressions as follows:- the work of prof.Peters is among the clearer;and probably the clearest; of my readings in religions history;- the "portrait" of the Historical Jesus is fascinating: I read two or three written work on the matter;but with a less efficient synthesis;in my modest view;-I was happy to learn many aspects of Muslim Religion that I still ignored;-prof.Peters'work has the advantage of offering the reader the possibility of following the two "tracks" separately;reading first the intellectually preferred one and then the other one.But this approach has strong limits : the overall historical view will be lost.I would suggest to read the entire work and then to reconsider the "preferred" chapters or sections.Forgive my crude English._0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. ExcellentBy Basel HExcellent book. Well presented; well researched. I have read the author's other book"The Children Of Abraham" and also found that book engrossing. Professor Peters has the ability to tackle the delicate subject of religion without offending believers.10 of 10 people found the following review helpful. Unique EnlightenmentBy Julie D.F. E. Peters examines and compares the historical profiles of Jesus and Muhammed to show us; from a historian's viewpoint; what we do and do not know about them. I actually am not exactly sure why the author wrote the book because he does not really draw any conclusions. However; I'm ok with that; as will be revealed at the end of this review.What Peters does is directly compare pieces of Jesus' and Muhammad's lives and ministries. The reader learns what historical context Jesus was born into and then the context for Muhammad; the infancy narratives for Jesus and then Muhammad; the words of Jesus and then Muhammad; and so forth. In each case; Peters considered sources; the historian's point of view; and the believer's point of view.The book jacket says that Peters finds surprising similarities between Jesus and Muhammad. I was disinterested in "surprising similarities" and more interested in learning facts. Specifically; I was interested in learning about Muhammad from an unbiased source; if such a thing exists.I already am familiar; with Jesus' life and identity from both a secular and Catholic point of view. Part of the test for Peters; naturally; was to see how his presentation of Jesus matched my own expectations. Since I knew next to nothing about Muhammad; I couldn't judge the truth of what I was being told other than to judge the truth of what Peters said about Christ. If he proved trustworthy there; then I felt he'd be equally trustworthy on Muhammad's behalf.I was impressed because the author was dispassionate in delineating history versus belief; while always being quite respectful of believers. This is not a quality we often see in historians speaking about religion. Usually they are rooting for one side or another. I commend Peters for doing such a clear job of research and writing.The painstakingly objective way he wrote about what Christians believe about Christ; led me to believe that I was being allowed as unbiased a look as I have ever been shown of Muhammad and how his followers have developed his words into the Quran and the Sira. And that was precisely what I was after. Highly recommended for those who would like similar enlightenment.
