How the West was Won

The western expansion of the United States took place over many years but in How The West Was Won, author Louis L’Amour simplifies the story by choosing to describe the growth of one family. Through the Prescott family he is able to cover the era of the mountain man, the early settlers that pushed down the Ohio River, the California Gold Rush and, after the Civil War, the building of the railroad that made the west accessible to everyone and the army’s final solution to the Plains Indian.

In typical Louis L’Amour style, his men are bigger than life and his women are strong and true. The Prescott family bred restless people and each generation seemed to turn West to seek new land. They travelled by raft down the raging Ohio, or by show more wagon train across the plains. They were smart enough to see that California had more to offer than gold, they put down roots and helped develop the land.

Louis L’Amour excels at action and this book has lots of that. He is not one to develop his characters much beyond identifying who is a hero and who is a villain, but this was a simple, fun page-turner delivered in his straight forward style. Although his books stray from the actual historical facts, he certainly helps to develop and nurture the myth of the American West. show less

My first Lamour book and I thought it was well written. Certainly did his research, and understands the times and the people. His characters impart a lot of timeless wisdom about life.
LL has a knack for deliberate and methodical insight being shown by the main characters Linus and Zeb Rawlins, which I think mirrors his own thought processes and personality. Each part of the novel is very thoroughly thought through, which I find admirable

It looks like L'Amour's intent was to sketch a portrait of different types of Western settlers: mountain men, families, farmers, railroad workers, lawmen, and outlaws. He did this by following a single family and the various members and descendants. L'Amour's stories have aged better than other. perhaps more literary stories, written at the same time. He is always respectful of his characters, including the women and the Indians, without being overly romantic about them. His protagonists are always practical, doing what needs to be done without fuss, with an integrity all their own.

Because of the format of this novel, we don't get very deeply into the characters, but I think L'Amour succeeded in what he was trying to do.

Not one of the better one, they did make a movie in the 50's with Henry Fonda.
The book is better. It is really three stories brought together as one. I liked the first story the best.

Nowhere near as good as any of his other writings.

Classic, had never read this one. Going to watch the movie now.

Product Description They came by river and by wagon train, braving the endless distances of the Great Plains and the icy passes of the Sierra Nevada. They were men like Linus Rawlings, a restless survivor of Indian country who’d headed east to see the ocean but left his heart—and his home—in the West. They were women like Lilith Prescott, a smart, spirited beauty who fled her family and fell for a gambling man in the midst of a frontier gold boom. These pioneering men and women sowed the seeds of a nation with their courage—and with their blood. Here is the story of how their paths would meet amid the epic struggle against fierce enemies and nature’s cruelty, to win for all time the rich and untamed West. From the show more Publisher Louis L'Amour's great epic of human courage and endurance, his brave saga of the men and women who pushed relentlessly forward--despite the uncertainties of nature, the wrath of savage enemies, countless dangers and cruel death--to win the wide, shining lands of the rich and untamed West! show less