For US history buffs, this book is really a must read. I'm sure there are many more scholarly and precise works on the Lewis and Clark expedition from 1803-1806, but this one has to be one of the most accessible for the general reader. The author did a great job with a complex historical event and summarizing it into a compelling narrative. I naturally found the portion describing the actual expedition to be the most interesting. The events leading up to the expedition and the aftermath were a little more slow going. The maps and sketches were helpful to understanding the expedition, but I would have enjoyed even more to include pictures or sketches of some of the animals and plants Lewis documented during the trip. Overall it was a great book and made me appreciate just how significant the expedition was.