Ark of Empire — Dale Van Every

Dale Van Every describes the perilous crises that threatened the young republic during the period when she struggled to remain one nation instead of becoming many. In this third volume of his major work, The Frontier People of America, the renowned historian tells how the Indians, allied with the British and Spanish, nearly won the battle for the West; how economic and military instability left the new frontiers dangerously unprotected, and finally, how the vision of leaders such as Washington, Jefferson, and Adams helped forge the government that was to unite a territory as large as Western Europe.