Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon

After watching Dan Snow's excellent BBC documentary on his teams expedition following Powell's original journey of discovery in 1869 I decided to read up a bit more on the subject in depth. This book is well researched and I found it to be a very interesting follow up to the two TV programmes.

Very descriptive and imaginatively written account.These crazy dudes gave all in the name of discovery and science,some gave their lives. What I really liked about this book was the authorsbackground narrative, e.g. The civil war and the horror of the lack of anaesthetic,plus his ability to make the science of geology sound exciting.I left this book with much more than the feeling of a great rollercoaster rideand would recommend it to the readers of adventure yarns, historicalscience and Western pioneer enthusiasts.

Good book about a great boating adventure. Easy read.

Bought for husband as he had just completed a trip through the Colorado river. So he thought it was very good.

very very interesting

Exciting and informative non-fiction account of the first people to take a boat all the way through the Grand Canyon, with lots of contextual information and input from modern boatmen and women. Has certainly 'wetted' (sorry) my appetite for my forthcoming rafting trip!

Great true adventure story.

Not in good condition. Lots of pages written on, creased cover and browning !

Delivered well ahead of expected date, good condition, very happy with everything👍

Tony Hillerman, who is quoted on the front cover, is right: "Terrific - an incredible adventure story." And it's a true story. Dolnick is a good story teller, going into amazing details. The only drawbacks: a. sometimes he digresses a bit too much, and b. there are times when he overdoes his love of similes - here is a prime example: "The deeper the layer (of the Grand Canyon rocks), the older, like the clothes on a teenager's bedroom floor." However, all in all, a fantastic story. I have no idea why nobody tried to make a feature movie out of Powell's incredible journey.

Using his background as a journalist, Dolnick, hot on a story over one hundred and thirty years old, breathes new life into the story of John Wesley Powell by focusing his pen almost exclusively on the perils of the Colorado River Exploring Expedition. Dolnick, as the review mentions, is free of pedantry and conveys Powell's trip as if to a buddy encamped on the shores of the Colorado. He purposefully sucks the reader into the reality of the canyons with witticisms such as the one describing Powell's choice of Whitehall boats for the expedition, "now he [Powell] was headed into a fire wearing a gasoline suit." In this respect, Dolnick successfully creates a bridge for the reader between the 21st and 19th centuries, which vividly enliven an important American historical event. Should one wish to learn a great deal about the life of John Wesley Powell, this is not the book. This is the Patton or Spirit of St. Louis, of books, not the Gandhi or Citizen Kane. The lens is centered on a specific event that shaped a man as much as it shaped a nation, and with this perspective, it succeeds. Interestingly, and through no fault of Dolnick's, the book inherits and conveys upon the reader certain undesirable characteristics of its subject matter as the book progresses. Repetition sets in as the men scuttle canyon after canyon with no end in sight. As their bodies grow wan from lack of food, so their powers for description wane. The reader is drawn into their misery and desperation of the watery marathon and reads all the faster to escape with the expedition. As contradictory as it may seem, it is a credit to the writer and a testament to the men that last few chapters become increasingly difficult due to this reflexive, involuntary, empathetic reader response. Three negative points, if minor, regarding Dolnick's work: He fails to discuss the Rainbow Bridge near Glen Canyon, only one of the most incredible rock formations in all of North America, if not the world. In his notes, Dolnick claims to have stuck closely to the accounts of the men's journals, so is it possible, however unlikely, that none mentioned this glorious natural wonder?Secondly, Dolnick claims the bodies of the Howlands and Dunns "have never been found." According to historian Donald Worster, there is strong circumstantial evidence to the contrary. In fact, Worster's work, A River Running West: The Life Of John Wesley Powell, refers to correspondence involving Major Powell, which states as much. To be fair, however, Dolnick's research was not centered on post-expedition history. Finally, Dolnick's notes are inconveniently placed at the back of the book and arranged in such a manner as to make it terribly difficult to follow while reading. It is, however, a minor subtraction from an otherwise excellent historical narrative.

Well researched. He sticks to the facts and doesn't put thoughts into his subjects' minds (which no one would know). Stephen Ambrose did this and it was maddening. Kudos to Dolnick for refraining. Wish he would have refrained from his many over-the-top metaphors and similes. They got comical / tiring after a while. Good book.

A good read. We went down the Grand Canyon last summer on an oar trip and I have been looking for a bit of history of river trips etc, so it has been a good read.