Publishers Weekly
02/01/2021
Clavin and Drury return (after Valley Forge) with an enlightening biography of Daniel Boone set against the backdrop of 18th-century America’s conflicts with England and Native tribes. Born in 1734 to English immigrants in Pennsylvania, Boone was drawn “to the backcountry’s contours and creatures,” and became a proficient hunter at a young age. As a husband and father, Boone’s restlessness and need for adventure caused him to relocate his family several times, and in 1773 he led a group of colonists in the first attempt to establish a British settlement in present-day Kentucky. The immigrants met with fierce resistance from the Shawnee and other local tribes; Boone’s 16-year-old son, James, was killed in an ambush. Clavin and Drury detail numerous atrocities committed by colonists and Natives during the settling of Kentucky and describe how Boone rescued his kidnapped daughter and her two friends from a Shawnee camp in 1776. The authors also pay close attention to Boone’s June 1778 escape from the Shawnee after months of captivity; his four-day, 160-mile journey to warn his namesake settlement, Boonesborough, of an impending attack; and successful leadership of the outpost’s defenses during the siege. Clavin and Drury successfully separate fact from fiction while keeping the pages turning. History buffs will be entertained. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
Praise for Blood and Treasure:
"Masterfully researched saga." —The Virginia Gazette
“Bob Drury and Tom Clavin together have given us a half-dozen elegantly written narratives of exhilarating episodes in American history. [Blood and Treasure] may be the authors’ finest work to date. Redolent of time and place, a raw and rugged tale.” —Wall Street Journal
"For anyone who loves the adventurous side of American history, “Blood and Treasure” is a gem. It’s full of action, thorough and wide. Seek out this treasure and you won’t be disappointed." —Terri Schlichenmeyer for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
“Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, challenge conventional wisdom about an American origin story and, in the process, weave a tale fit for the big screen.” —Washington Free Beacon
"Clavin and Drury return with an enlightening biography of Daniel Boone set against the backdrop of 18th-century America’s conflicts with England and Native tribes. [They] successfully separate fact from fiction while keeping the pages turning. History buffs will be entertained." —Publishers Weekly
"Popular historians Drury and Clavin deliver a ripsnortin’ tale of the early frontier and its first and most powerful legend. [Blood and Treasure] offers a vivid account of Boone’s frontier years, one that may not be for the faint of heart." —Kirkus
"Blood and Treasure tells the Boone story through the prism of the larger struggle for the frontier. It is a substantial and lively book by an accomplished history-writing duo." —National Review
Praise for the work of Drury and Clavin:
“A ripping yarn.” —Laura Miller, Salon
“Vivid…Lively…A tale of lies, trickery, and brutal slaughter.” —Christopher Corbett, The Wall Street Journal
“A page-turner…the narrative has a remarkable immediacy.” —Kate Tuttle, The Boston Globe
“Exquisitely told…remarkably detailed.” —USA Today
"Filled with an overabundance of details ..." —Dallas Morning News
"Drury and Clavin have now given us the fullest and most readable account ... against which all subsequent efforts must be measured." —Joseph J. Ellis, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Founding Brothers
"The word 'epic' is overused these days. Not here. This is big, blazing history writ large." —S.C. Gwynne, author of Empire of the Summer Moon
Library Journal
02/12/2021
Drury and Clavin (The Heart of Everything That Is) again collaborate to present a survey of 18th-century American history focusing on the family of Daniel Boone and their migration from New England to the Carolinas and across the Appalachians to Kentucky. Colonial wars between the French and English and the American Revolution impacted the lives of settlers like the Boone family, but most European-American families had one overriding goal: acquisition of land that was already inhabited by Native Americans. Daniel Boone's life and exploits have become myth and legend, and the authors stay on familiar ground in presenting Boone as an ambitious leader, a fearless fighter, and a man with a strong belief in his own self-worth. Drury and Clavin often refer to Boone's vision, and they state that Boone "no doubt foresaw that his journey opened a new chapter in the history" of the country. They describe him as a man who traveled with a Bible and copy of Gulliver's Travels in his saddlebag; yet some historians have said that Boone was semi-literate and could barely sign his name. VERDICT Citations are few, authors' opinions and statements are strong: not a book for serious historians. It will appeal to the authors' fan base.—Patricia Ann Owens, formerly at Illinois Eastern Community College, Mt. Carmel
Kirkus Reviews
2021-01-14
Popular historians Drury and Clavin deliver a ripsnortin’ tale of the early frontier and its first and most powerful legend.
The authors open on a frightful note, depicting a 16-year-old son of Daniel Boone being tortured “on the frozen scree beneath the Cumberland Mountain’s shadow line,” a Shawnee warrior tearing his fingernails and toenails off before finally killing him. Undeterred, Boone led a party of settlers over the Cumberland Gap, made his way into Kentucky, and in time established a walled compound on the Kentucky River. The narrative seldom finds a moment of calm thereafter. As Drury and Clavin observe, the arrival of Whites across the Appalachians began “a slow-motion genocide” for many Native peoples, not least of them the Shawnee, Boone’s principal foe. Boone was unusual for many reasons, not least because he “respected, if not completely understood, the spirituality and philosophy that underpinned [the Natives’] culture” and “never underestimated their intelligence.” Boone’s arrival also figured in a complex series of conflicts that involved France, Britain, Indigenous peoples, and the newly founded U.S. Keeping his fellow settlers alive in the bargain landed Boone in more than one spot of trouble. He was held prisoner by the British, accused of loyalist sympathies by frontier revolutionaries, and, in the end, recognized as a true patriot whose actions kept the British from flanking the Continental Army in the South. A particularly exciting set piece is the authors’ account of a combined British/Canadian/Native siege of Boonesborough in 1778, with bad results for one loud-voiced spokesman for the besiegers: “The next time Pompey showed his face, Collins blew it into the Kentucky River.” The war on the frontier became bloodier still. Though not as comprehensive as John Mack Faragher’s 1992 biography Daniel Boone, this book offers a vivid account of Boone’s frontier years, one that may not be for the faint of heart.
A well-written, fast-paced account that neatly bridges the gap between historical fact and fiction.
