In his preface, Stephen E. Ambrose describes the expedition of Lewis and Clark across the North American continent and back (from May 1804 to December 1806) as "the greatest camping trip of all time, and the greatest hunting trip. And one of the greatest scientific expeditions ever." It's a trip that Ambrose and his family often emulate, camping in the same lands the expedition first encountered nearly two centuries before them. In 1997, he was accompanied by National Geographic photographer Sam Abell. Some of these stunning pictures lead off the account of the journey presented here, and then pepper the second half of the book, which is also filled with period illustrations and maps. Ambrose has told the story of Lewis and Clark before, in the bestselling Undaunted Courage; the version he tells in Voyage of Discovery is shorter, but is also filled with his own contemporary reflections upon the men and the lands they traveled. This coffee-table book will delight lovers of history and nature alike, and may well inspire you to pack up your gear and hit the trail. (amazon.com)

Lovely photographs. The text breaks no new ground, but is a useful companion for explaining the photographs. ( )

The text combines tales of the Lewis and Clark exploration with the Ambroses camping and hiking trips to the same spots. Ambrose also talks about accompanying Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan while they were filming their television documentary. I didn't always find the modern information terribly interesting, but I will be sure to look up the documentary.

I read this just after reading Ambrose's Undaunted Courage about the expedition. The text is of course much shorter, but seems to capture the expedition pretty well. In this book, Ambrose goes into a little more detail about the later lives of people other than Lewis & Clark.

The illustration is lavish. Sam Abell's gorgeous photographs are grouped at the end of the chapters, rather than integrated with the text. This can be a little annoying, but they are certainly wonderful shots. A number of other reproductions of artwork, artifacts and museums are worked into the text. ( )

This was a freebie coffee table-style book from Eddie Bauer, but a nice one it is. This is a history of Lewis and Clark's legendary voyage to explore the new Louisiana Territory, written by the noted popular historian Stephen E. Ambrose, with photographs by Sam Abell and images of contemporary objects and illustrations. Includes many excerpts from their journal kept along the way. A fine and accessible historical reference of a watershed event in American history. ( )