Jackson's Way: Andrew Jackson And the People Of The Western Waters - Hardcover

Buchanan, John

4.26

27 ratings by Goodreads

9780785820604: Jackson's Way: Andrew Jackson And the People Of The Western Waters

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0785820604 ISBN 13: 9780785820604

Publisher: Castle, 2005

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Separating fact from myth, the author resurrects the remarkable Andrew Jackson and his rise to American hero., bringing to life the thrilling details of frontier warfare and of Jackson’s exploits as an Indian fighter.

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Review:

With tremendous admiration, even reverence, for his subject, Buchanan (The Road to Guilford Courthouse) recounts Andrew Jackson′s early career and rise to American war hero. He focuses on the westward expansion from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River, which he describes as a "folk movement" or mass migration of rough, often lawless people determined to lay claim to a new land and to fight until they prevailed. With graphic first–person accounts of Indian massacres and the retaliatory strikes of settlers, the author provides a very detailed military history of Jackson′s defeat of the Chicamunga Cherokees and the creek tribes who claimed sovereignty, until 1814, over the southeastern United States, and of his victory at the battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. Buchanan uses quotations from primary sources so well that they blend almost seamlessly with his own writing, which can sound oddly archaic and overwrought to modern ears (soldiers are "released by death"; British ships bound "eaglelike over the waves"). In Buchanan′s eyes, Jackson is nothing short of "superhuman," and there is little balance in his treatment of Jackson′s controversial views on Indians (the future president eschewed the idea of Indian sovereignty, although Buchanan argues that it was the English, and not the Indians, whom Jackson hated) or his invasion of Florida, a possession of Neutral Spain, at the close of the Creek Indian war. Buchanan is unabashedly nostalgic for the days when battlefields were "fields of honor" and the ungoverned individualism and hunger for expansion of the frontier was at the forefront of the American experience. This account will appeal mainly to those who enjoy military history. (Publishers Weekly)

"John Buchanan gives a compelling account of Jackson′s Indian–fighting days, but he provides as well a grand sweep of the conquest of the trans–Appalachian West...Mr. Buchanan writes with style and insight. He accepts the reality of the conquest, understands the era and the people and, refreshingly, does not attempt to pose modern–day sensibilities on the events. This is history at its best." (The Wall Street Journal, July 26, 2001)

"Buchanan uses quotations from primary sources so well that they blend almost seamlessly with his own writing..." ( Publishers Weekly)

"John Buchanan gives a compelling account of Jackson′s Indian–fighting days...Mr. Buchanan writes with style and insight." (The Wall Street Journal, July 26, 2001)

"A compelling account .... Mr. Buchanan writes with style and insight.... This is history at its best." Wall Street Journal Thursday, July 26, 2001

From the Back Cover:

Advance Praise for Jackson′s Way

"I enjoyed it very much. It’s an excellent study . . . of an area and a time period too long neglected by historians . . . provides valuable new information, particularly on the Indians." Robert Remini, author of The Life of Andrew Jackson

"John Buchanan has written a book that explodes with action and drama on virtually every page. Yet the complex story of the birth of the American West never loses its focus Andrew Jackson’s improbable rise to fame and power. This is an American saga, brilliantly told by a master of historical narrative." Thomas Fleming, author of Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Future of America

Praise for John Buchanan’s The Road to Guilford Courthouse

"Outstanding popular military history . . . an accomplishment of the same high order as . . . McPherson’s Civil War historiography." Booklist

" A tense, exciting historical account of a little–known chapter of the Revolution, displaying history writing at its best." Kirkus Reviews

"His compelling narrative brings readers closer than ever before to the reality of Revolutionary warfare in the Carolinas." Raleigh News & Observer

"A lively, accurate account of a critical period in the War of Independence in the South . . . it deserves a large reading audience." Don Higginbotham, Professor of History, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

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