The Pioneers
by David McCullough
The settling of Ohio by New Englanders who insisted on free soil, public education and religious freedom: Manasseh Cutler, Rufus Putnam and their families at Marietta. McCullough's last book, modest in scale and admiring of civic virtue.
Read it if…
you want a story of community-building by ordinary people.
See the book →
Skip it if…
you want a major figure.
Try instead: Brave Companions →
Three things you will actually use
- Found institutions early.
- Civic virtue is work.
- Persistence outlasts the frontier.
Do this first
Read the chapters on the Northwest Ordinance.
Our verdict
Community-building, admired.
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