Snowbound and Eclipse

Book excerpt: Two stories of renowned American explorers in one low-priced edition, from master of the western novel Richard S. Wheeler Snowbound American explorer John Frémont embarks on a quest to find a railway route to the west along the 38th parallel. His fourth expedition, into the American west in the dead of winter, proves more challenging than anticipated. Trapped, snowbound, in the Colorado mountains, Frémont must battle the frigid elements in a harrowing journey over the backbone of the continent. This novel of desperate danger and fierce courage is a survival saga par excellence—a struggle of man against man, man against nature, and man against himself. Eclipse Lewis and Clark made history with their epochal first crossing of the North American continent. Upon their return, plain-spoken William Clark enjoys his fame, marries his childhood sweetheart, and settles in St. Louis as superintendent of the nation's Indian affairs. His black manservant, York, forces him to confront the nature of slavery and question the society that condones it. Meriwether Lewis, a man of courage and brilliant intellect, returns from the Pacific a changed man. Something terrible has happened to him, a disease with no name that erodes his health and threatens to destroy his mind—and his honor. Eclipse is an exploration of triumph and tragedy told in the authentically rendered voices of two of the greatest American explorers. This edition of the book is the deluxe, tall rack mass market paperback.