The Frontiersmen: A Narrative

This is an amazing book! It has a high page count, but I flew through it, literally couldn’t put it down. Often I would stay up way later than I should have just to keep reading it. Great historical details, but written as a narrative making it very entertaining. An important era in the opening of Kentucky, Ohio, and further west. Highly recommended for history buffs and those who just like a great story.

It's hard to properly categorize this narrative. On the one hand, it's a story of Simon Kenton and Tecumseh, and on the other a larger examination of the settling of the Northwest Territory. It is both factual and fanciful. It is written in linear fashion, but on a timeline that often skips several months and sometimes years. By the end of it, you feel like you have read an unforgettable tale, full of horrendous and heroic deeds, and have a a good idea of what both settlers and the Native Americans had to endure. I didn't want to put it down. Highly recommended.

One of the best historical accounts of the early history of America. One cannot easily lay this book down. I read it years ago, lost it and recently reordered it. You will not be disappointed in this read. I live and grew up in the area that it covers and have learned things I never knew about my home. Truly a must read.

A vast narrative following the life and career of Daniel Boone's somewhat less well known junior contemporary on the early American frontier, Simon Kenton, and the parallel life and career of the Shawnee chieftain, Tecumseh, who tried to unite the disparate Indian tribes in a last ditch effort to stem the sweep of the American Republic over native American lands, this book is rich in research and in the drama of those times. Allan Eckert has used the technique of a novelist to bring the details of historical events to life as he follows the paths of Kenton and Tecumseh and the men and women around them, from Kenton's first foray over the Alleghenies into the wilderness in colonial times to the denouement in the War of 1812 when Tecumseh makes his last ditch effort to stop the white settlers. Recounted as a series of historical vignettes around the main characters and often taking on the trappings of fiction (because Eckert purports to take us inside the heads of these people and to report conversations and some events for which there is little or no record), this book is massive and sometimes daunting to read. Nevertheless, it succeeds in breathing life into the era and, if many of the characters seem somewhat thin and almost to blend into a certain sameness, the multifaceted personality of the illiterate Kenton and the finely drawn picture of the mysterious Tecumseh, makes it all worthwhile. I found myself wondering at times just how many of the reported miraclulous prophecies ascribed to Tecumseh, from predicting an eclipse to the appearance of a comet to the occurrence of a massive earthquake, were genuine -- after all, despite all these supposed successes, his basic prediction, that he would lead a united Indian nation to drive out the whites, did not come true. But the detail about the Indian culture and relations between the various tribes and with the whites was eye-opening and all of it made me ashamed of this aspect of the American past. Of course, we could not be what we are today if we hadn't supplanted the native peoples, and pretty much every nation in existence today is where it is as a result of driving out earlier inhabitants in much the same fashion. Still, one can't help rooting for the Indian side when presented with a book like this, even if the Indians were pretty cruel in their own right and the Americans did ultimately grow into a better nation than what we started out as. SWM author of The King of Vinland's Saga

This book is particularly interesting to me since I live in the part of the country where is takes place. For no particular reason I put off reading this book for perhaps 40 years. Now that I have, I am sorry I waited so long. Others have described the content and story that is written so I see no need for that. The writing is excellent for a non scholar, one who simply wants a great story of the settling of what was the western frontier during and after the Revolutionary war. Although the characters are numerous (nearly all actual people) the story centers around Simon Kenton. He is buried no more than 30 miles from where I live and I've seen his grave and monument several times. Now I have a much better appreciation for Simon Kenton. The major battle led by George Rogers Clark is a stones throw from me and I've been there many times - again with a passing glance at his statue and the many plaques describing the battle that took place. And again I will never see them the same way again. Every summer in Chillicothe there is an outdoor drama "Tecumseh" started about 1970. I've put off seeing that too. I'm getting tickets for that ASAP. The only complaint I have is technical.The digital copy has more character mistakes than any Kindle book I've ever read. Sometimes very hard to read.

OK, let's start with the assumption you like historical fiction. Then let's add the assumption that you like historical fiction about the era 1755-1836. Then let's add the assumption that you are interested in the battle for mid-American and how Kentucky and Ohio became states. Well, that narrows it down a lot, but that's the best way to describe this book. One could also say that it is a biography of Simon Kenton and to a lesser extent, Tecumseh. Well-researched, well-written, a real page-turner. The book is filled with battles and conflicts. It is an extremely violent story, but a true one. Several other aspects of the book really appealed to me. For one, within chapters it is broken up into units every page or two, each unit headed with a date. It is easy to read a page or two and then put your bookmark in for later, unlike a lot of books with 30 page chapters and no divisions within the chapters. It also contains plenty of maps. Authors of military books and other books where locational matters are important often fail to realize the necessity of maps. In the back, there is a listing of the Indian characters and who they were, which is very helpful since the names are not easy to keep straight. There is also a listing of Shawnee words and phrases. For the scholars, it is extensively foot-noted. All in all, I don't see how you can do better than this book. My first Eckert reading and there will be more.

First, I have always found this time period in American history to be of interest. Second, I read this book on a long plane ride and for relaxation on vacation. So a book written in this style, like an historical novel was just right for the occasion and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The writer claims that the events are true as well as other details. This seemed hard to accept at some points but I was willing to buy into the claim since either way I was absorbed in the book. The insertion of the many known and not so well known characters made for entertaining reading. The relationships between whites and Indians was informative - both the good relationships and the bad ones. The parts on Tecumseh were especially good, and tragic. Like today's world, plenty of good and bad characters on each side of the conflicts, reinforcing my negative view towards nationalism. Character should be the means for taking sides, not a flag. There is some cheerleading element to the treatment of individuals but at the same time each individual is shown warts and all. If you like the topic and in the mood for adventurous reading you will like the book especially if you go into it with the conviction to overlook certain things and just want to enjoy the story.

Good read, packaged well

Wonderful story of American history, seemingly unbiased and straightforward. Perfectly describes the tidal wave of immigration into the United States and the men that built America. Well done!

Vor dem Umfang bin erst mal zurückgeschreckt, habe das Buch nun fast durch und empfehle es gerne weiter. Voraussetzung: höheres Interesse am Thema, die nötige Zeit und Freude am "Tagebuchstil". Dann liefert es jede Menge an Informationen und diese stehen im Vordergrund!

Brilliant book.so well researched. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the era.No movie could ever do this justice. Informative and at times shocking page turner.

Allan W Eckert brings the reality of frontier living, with all of its hardships and adversity, to life. An amazing read and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

History of the American frontier is what this book is all about. About the struggles not only of those pioneer frontiersmen but the Indians themselves. I’ve given it five stars for the content itself. But I did find it at times a struggle to keep reading it to the end. Which I am pleased to say I did.