Brave Companions: Portraits In History

Essayist and historian David McCullough spent 20 years culling the data for his literary portraits in "Brave Companions." However, the book reads so seamlessly it is hard to believe that even a moment passed in the discovery and reflection of the information on the brave soldiers of intellect, art, and community portrayed by McCullough. "Brave Companions" goes to familiar territory, but in unfamiliar ways. The stories are inspirational yet easily accessible. McCullough has created a masterpiece. Other recommendations: "1776", "Mornings on Horseback", "A Long Way Down", "The Kite Runner", and "My Fractured Life."

Since reading my first David McCullough book, MORNINGS ON HORSEBACK, I was delighted and impressed by the author's depth of research and his easy style of writing. I loved his book, JOHN ADAMS and also TRUMAN. The author can be trusted with the facts and although the books are long, the reader doesn't want them to end - they are that interesting! I plan to read all of David McCullough's books.BRAVE COMPANIONS is a wonderful easily readable book of interesting in depth portraits of people with a purpose. The author makes his portrayals come alive in a unique way. You will learn how history was shaped by ordinary people who did amazing things. I was familiar with only a few such as Harriet Beecher Stowe and Charles and Anne Lindbergh, and was so pleasantly surprised to read about many others such as Miriam Rothschild and David Plowden. I am happy to have met all of these different and exceptional folks. The last chapter, Simon Willard's Clock is just plain great! Be warned - when you begin reading this informative book, you will not stop until completing it and you will want to know even more about each subject - it's that good! And, like me, you will buy a few copies to give as gifts.

This book is another McCullough masterpiece. A collection of articles and essays published by McCullough in the past few decades, this book is truly the epitome of well written and researched history. McCullough definately knows how to make his subjects (dead people and events that very few people know about) come back to life. His prose flows like a fictional narrative. The people and events discussed are enough to make you wonder often if the book is fiction. But it's not. All of McCullough's sources are authentic. And what he doesn't know, he'll admit - a sign of a true historian. If you like history you'll love this book. As an amateur historian myself I greatly appreciated the last few chapters in the book where McCullough emphasized the importance of learning our history, as well as the need for us to write our own. This is a short, but highly entertaining and beneficial book. Highly recommended.

What a delightful, inspiring collection of concise biographical profiles!MuCullough culls the last few centuries for extraordinary men and women whose names might vaguely trigger a bell, but whose achievements and courage have mostly been forgotten. Going beyond the trivia answers, McCullough recreates the historical context and human passions that drove Alexander von Humboldt to explore South America, Frederic Remington to paint a vanishing way of life, Harriet Beecher Stowe to write Uncle Tom's Cabin (the most popular book - and play of the 19th century America!), and Miriam Rothschild's studies of insects. Yet the most fascinating chapter, by far, celebrates the literary powers of pioneer airplane pilots: Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Beryl Markham, and Charles and Anne Lindbergh. Rising above the clouds as no man or woman had ever done before, these courageous souls combined a love of science and technology with a sense of reverence for nature's beauty. "With the advance of the airplane, they were sure, the old barriers of time and distance would give way, bringing humanity closer together," writes McCullough. "That they would also share a common crisis in such faith is also part of their story." McCullough does a remarkable job of resurrecting quirky hereoes and suggests that "courage is contagious." Perhaps he's wrong, but I hope he's right as we begin a new century of unknown peril and possibility.P.S. I've given a few copies of this book as gifts to relatives and friends.

McCullough shows that history is more than great men and great events. One only needs to read about the discovery of lost and forgotten blueprints of the Brooklyn Bridge to see a new window open on events that we all thought we knew about. The joy of reading anything by McCullough is that he takes you on a guided tour of captivating people, places and events that have been glossed over by more so-called grteat events and people. McCullough does this with a great passion and an understanding that the readers are not always college scholars, but real people who expereince life on a simpler level, people who can relate to the ordinary progress and pace of life. Brave Companions is a book that opens the door to new insights of history, and the door is open to eveyone.