Mr. Lavender recently died (April '03)and his obituary in the Los Angeles Times prompted me to go out and buy this book. I could not put it down...just as the Times stated, Lavender is a wonderful writer who knows how to describe the west. This book has it all, mountains, mining, cowboys and history with a nice personal touch. I would recommend it highly. It is an "easy" read and one that will leave you feeling satisfied once you complete the book. I am going to search out more of Mr. Lavender's works.

An excellent book! Ranching and mining, rich history, not to be missed.

David Lavender is a historian whose personal account of growing up in Telluride and Ouray, Colorado is captivating. Mr Lavender documents the arrival of the 1950's "modern age" to western Colorado and Utah. During his youth, the open desert and mountain lands evolve from a setting for silver mines, lone cowboys, and vast cattle ranches into the garden of the atomic age. He documents the arrival of uranium prospectors, the departure of independent cowboy spirits, and finally, the eventual return of the nuclear boom towns to dust. It is fascinating to read him today and to see what the southern Utah desert was like 50 years ago. If you visit these areas, I recommend that you read "One Man's West" as you pass through them. It will give significance to the sight of decaying farm or mining equipment by the roadside, and fill you with appreciation for those who make an effort to preserve the wilderness. I buy this book in multiple copies and give them to my friends. It has no particular bent for environmentalism or even "wise use" in the wilderness, but gives you some historical insight. I have never met Mr. Lavender, but I admire him as an author and historian. He has authored several other books incouding and account of the Lewis and Clark expedition which, I have heard, is quite good."One Man's West" was written in the 1940's then updated in the 1950's. The New York Times published a glowing review of the book in the mid 1940's or 1950's. Its age has only helped to enhance its significance to a contemporary reader of western history.

I really enjoyed Just Jane because it told me not only about what happened to an American soldier during the Revolution (Brandon), but about what happened to people in his family who were only trying to say alive and not get involved (Jane, Simon, and many others). Both English people living in the colonies, as well as Americans, who had at one time gotten along and been family and friends, were forced to take sides. Because of that it was really more like a civil war. It makes the story very exciting and suspenseful, since people never knew which side their friends or family would wind up choosing (or being forced to choose), and they never knew what their enemies would do to them if the enemies wound up getting into power. I really recommend it for anyone 12 or over, girls or boys.

This book is about Lady Jane Prentice the orphaned daughter of an English earl.She has rensently moved to Charleston,SC(then Charlestown)to live with her only living fanily.The year is 1776 and the atosmephere is very tense.One side of the family are tories and the other are patriots While exploring the city she meets the hansome Simon Cordwyn a school teacher and patriot.Which side will she choose. the book is really good a must read

I am a student of Dr Lavender's and the book was on the reading list for his course at the Central School of Speech & Drama. I purchased the book tentatively considering selfish factors such as sales and authorial royalties. However despite this initial reticence and cynicism this is a thoroughly researched and crafted piece of theatrical commentary.

Lavneder focuses on three of the great contemporary theatrical visionaries and places their working methods under a sharlply focused scholarly microscope. His remarks on Brook's working methods are particularly insightful when reading The Shifting Point concurrently.

This is a fine piece of work and one that any student of directing, contemporary theatre practice or indeed Shakespeare would do well to read.

Andy didn't pay me to say write this. Go buy it!

First off, contrary to earlier reviewers, this book has NOTHING to do with the Lewis and Clark expedition. Out of the 350 pages in the book, they might be mentioned a half dozen times and one might want to get Lavender's "The Way to the Western Sea," if interested on Meriweather and William's trip.
Instead, "Let me Be Free," is on the Nez Perce tribe which lived in Oregon's Wallowa Valley until it was forced from the land in the 1860's. This is a great book if the reader is interested in a century's worth of history about the tribe but I'd suggest something else if the intent on reading this is solely learning about Chief Joseph's tragic flight from the US military in 1877.
I originally got into Lavender's works after reading his fantastic book, "Bents' Fort" which is about the trading family of William Bent in SE Colorado. I had no interest in the subject but was recommended the book and I fell fully immersed into it because of Lavender's detailed writing-style and ability to create real identities to the historical characters instead of just giving names and dates. He has the same writing style in "Let Me Be Free," and will never shy from a unimportant but lighthearted side story. The writing is anything but dry.
The first half of LMBF is on how the tribe lived and existed, its neighbors, and its relations with the first whites to reach Oregon. Lavender has a contentious understanding of the western Native American tribes and writes in a fair and unbiased reader-friendly style and includes the correct names and terms the Nez Perce (Nimipu) used.
The last 100 pages cover Chief Joseph's (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kehht's) flight and includes a fantastic map in the front for the reader to follow the tribe along on its failed march to freedom.
The book fails to get five stars from me because I was most interested in the Nez Perce march and it just took too long to finally reach that subject in the book. It reminded me of "Undaunted Courage," (Ambrose's book on Meriweather Lewis) where there is no much buildup to the expedition that once the reader finally reaches it in the book, it falls a bit flat. However, if anyone is interested on the Nez Perce tribe itself, you won't find a better book. Any Western Oregon historians would also immensely enjoy this work.

David Lavender just may have written the definitive history of the Lewis and Clark expedition. It is a wonderfully wrought narrative, capturing the full width and breadth of this incredible journey. Lavender's sardonic tongue deflates many of the myths surrounding the "voyage of discovery," noting that for the most part this was a well-trodden path. The only actual "discovery" was that of linking the Missouri to the Columbia. However, this makes it no less an adventure.

He downplays the significance of Sacagewea. For the most part she was little used on this voyage. Her one major contribution was helping to secure horses for the great fording of the Bitteroot Mountains. Still, Lavender lavishes much attention on her and her son, which it seems that William Clark did as well. Her presence seemed to secure safe passage during their final leg down the Columbia River, as it made the expedition team seem less war-like.

Lavender also provides the background for the voyage, detailing President Jefferson's dream to establish an American Northwest Passage, linking one ocean to another. Lavender probes the seemingly paternal relationship between Jefferson and Lewis, and how Jefferson was able to win Congress over to a third attempt to cross the continent, despite questions regarding Lewis' qualifications. Jefferson personally trained Lewis for the expedition and provided added tutelage in the form of the leading lights of American science. Like a devoted son, Lewis made every effort to carry out the mission, which Jefferson sponsored, even when it seemed foolhardy to do so.

For those who haven't travelled this route before, you will be in good hands with David Lavender. For those who have, I think you will marvel at how masterful a job Lavender does in recording the events, giving the best rounded version of the "voyage of discovery" that I have read.

Originally subtitled "the U.S. Army's War Against Seven Hundred Nez Perce Men,Women, and Children," this moving history documents the brutal persecution of a small Northwestern tribe. Western historian David lavender never hides his sympathy in this powerful chronicle of Chief Joseph's "flight toward freedom" in 1877 to avoid reservation life. This is a really sad story filled with overlooked possibilities for compromise, understanding, and tolerance. Lavender considers the Nex Perce War the final betrayal of a long and once-promising relationship between white explorers, fur trappers, Christian missionairies, and the tribe. Chief Old Joseph, father of the more famous Chief Joseph, even converted to Christianity for both spiritual and practical reasons. Peaceful coexistence and friendship with the new settlers was his policy. Greed, cultural intolerance, and racial hatred eventually doomed those possibilities for Nez Perce. Although Chief Joseph developed a reputation as an Indian Napeleon for his brilliant fighting tactics, Lavender emphasizes that Chief Joseph continually sought to avoid war. Chief Joseph's simple hope was to have a reservation that would allow his people to live in their traditional land and stay close to his father's grave in Wallowa Valley, Oregon. The United States military commanders of that time, however, demanded the tribe move. This compelling account of the Nez Perce's failed 1700 mile exodus to join Sitting Bull in Canada captures the cruelty, mindlessness, and viciousness of 19th century America's expansionist policies. Chief Joseph's eloquent words, especially when surrending after a blizzard just a few miles south of the Canadian border, accents the pain and injustice.

David Lavender wrote Bent's Fort in 1954. His book has all of the virtues of a popular history written during that time period. The story is driven by bigger than life characters forging history in an exotic locale. However, David Lavender's book also shares the weaknesses of a history written at that time. The Indians are "Red Savages" and the Mexicans are lazy and shiftless. Unfortunately, David Lavender writes with the easy racism that was common in the pre civil rights era.

This book is a must for anyone wanting to learn about the Fur Trade in the Southern Rockies. Most of the people who read this book will probably not be bothered by Lavender's thoughtless racism. However, I am waiting for a new history of Bents Fort. A history that is more nuanced and takes advantage of the tremendous advances made in the study of the American West during the last fifty years.

This is one of the all-time great histories. Well-written, as fascinating as any action-adventure fiction, but one comes away from reading this book with the feeling that you have really been there with the Bent. One of the many neglected stories of our history, and one that needed to be told. Lavender did a magnificent job with it.

One fantastic, engrossing book! Bent's Fort is in southeastern Colorado and this book gives the history of that area along with Taos and Sante Fe. Couldn't put the book down. The fort bordered what was then the United States and Mexico. We see how the Bent brothers establish a trading post along the Arkansas River in the 1830's and began a long career of not only in trading with the Indians and Mexicans, but also get involved in the uprising of hostilities between Mexico and the United States. The cultural descriptions of our Native Americans is very well done. It is a great read and as another reviewer said, it is as if the characters simply come alive and you feel as though you know them personally.

In the Oz Winkie Country is a kingdom of living teddy bears. They have a problem they just can't bear; someone is bearnapping them right before their very eyes. Their comfortable kingdom in Iz is ruled by the Lavender Bear and has always seemed so safe. But now, with his peaceful kingdom's inhabitants disappearing one by one, the Lavender Bear decides that it's time to stop playing and start finding out who's responsible for themass bearnapping of his subjects. He sets out to find the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman to help him. The Lavender Bear made his first appearance in Baum's 1917 Oz book The Lost Princess of Oz. Over 30 bw illustrations.