All writers, especially biographers and journalists, have a collection of vignettes in their notebooks or files that are like film outtakes -- they're left on the cutting room floor. Here, McCullough gathers up his outtakes relating to fascinating people, places and things and puts them together in a nice book that doesn't require concentration. But the people and places he writes about are interesting and reading the book is similar to wandering around in an irrestible old museum. A lot of the material here comes from books he has written and researched. McCullough said he wanted to be a portrait painter in life, and this book is like a McCullough retrospective in words. Nice job.

Received product promptly and was brand new as described. McCullough is an excellent writer and enjoyable to read.

David McCulloug is my favorite historian ever since I read THE PATH BETWEEN THE SEAS. Since then I have read his books every time I find one.

The chapters on Alexander Von Humbolt was terrific and the one about the building of the Brooklyn bridge made my hair stand on end.

This book should be required reading for all 10, 11 and 12 graders. Its short format and chapter by chapter coverage of persons, places and events is ideal for the short attention span of today's young readers. I will introduce them to persons and events that they have never heard of but might inspire them to do great things if they can just get away from the video games and "reality shows". It may show them that people can do great things when they love what they do and work at.

This is a collection of articles David McCullough wrote over a span of years. Each has a different topic and a different pace. Some are familiar characters; others were new to me.

Some of these articles were very good and inspired me to buy books on the topics and folks mentioned, for example: Dolly Madison, Alexander von Humboldt, and Louis Agassiz, and the early aviators. I also added a few of the books mentioned to my Amazon wish list -- they seem like they will be interesting.

I think the book was front-loaded -- the more interesting articles (to me)were at the beginning. As the book progressed, the writing style became so self-conscious, with McCullough's voice coming through all the time. It got old. McCullough kept interjecting himself into the work. "Washington on the Potomac" is especially fraught with self-reference.

I thought the worst article in the collection was one written for Life magazine's 50th anniversary edition, called "extraordinary times." It was melodramatic, alarmist, and ignorant all at the same time. Now, I realize we are reading it with the hindsight of 20 years' perspective, but it was written in 1986, and McCullough queries "what might be the most historic things happening right now?" In 1986. A great question. And he posits, maybe world overpopulation. Maybe the ravishing of the rainforests. Maybe the rise of Islam (one for three).

But how, in 1986, could a very politically-plugged-in historian, a resident of Washington DC, fail to mention that one of the MOST HISTORICAL THINGS going on at the time was Reagan's challenging of the Communists on *moral grounds*, which eventually led to the collapse of the Soviet Union? I was 16 in 1986... I remember it was kind of a big deal. *How* could McCullough have overlooked it? Granted, the guy lauds democrat administrations, but surely it would not have escaped his notice, even if it was happening in a republican administration? For goodness sake, every Doonesbury cartoon for 5 years focused there.

So I give it a mixed review. I added 7 books to my wish list as a result of interesting new information, but found myself shaking my head at some of the book, and finished it with relief, not reluctance.

This is a collection of articles David McCullough wrote over a span of years. Each has a different topic and a different pace. Some are familiar characters; others were new to me.

Some of these articles were very good and inspired me to buy books on the topics and folks mentioned, for example: Dolly Madison, Alexander von Humboldt, and Louis Agassiz, the aviators. I also added a few of the books mentioned to my Amazon wish list -- they seem like they will be interesting.

I think the book was front-loaded -- the more interesting articles were at the beginning. As the book progressed, the writing style became so self-conscious, with McCullough's voice coming through all the time. It got old. McCullough kept interjecting himself into the work. "Washington on the Potomac" is especially fraught with self-reference.

I thought the worst article in the collection was one written for Life magazine's 50th anniversary edition, called "extraordinary times." It was melodramatic, alarmist, and ignorant all at the same time. Now, I realize we are reading it with the hindsight of 20 years' perspective, but it was written in 1986, and McCullough queries "what might be the most historic things happening right now?" In 1986. A great question. And he posits, maybe world overpopulation. Maybe the ravishing of the rainforests. Maybe the rise of Islam (one for three).

But how, in 1986, could a very politically-plugged-in historian, a resident of Washington DC, fail to mention that one of the MOST HISTORICAL THINGS going on at the time was Reagan's challenging of the Communists on *moral grounds*, which eventually led to the collapse of the Soviet Union? I was 16 in 1986... I remember it was kind of a big deal. *How* could McCullough have overlooked it? Granted, the guy lauds democrat administrations, but surely it would not have escaped his notice, even if it was happening in a republican administration? For goodness sake, every Doonesbury cartoon for 5 years focused there.

So I give it a mixed review. I added 7 books to my wish list as a result of interesting new information, but found myself shaking my head at some of the book, and finished it with relief, not reluctance.

With this collection of essays, most written in the 1970s and `80s (but one reaching back into the 1950s), David McCullough exhibits both his strengths and (comparative) weaknesses as a writer. Biography is his forte, and his portraits of Humboldt, Agassiz, Remington, and Harriet Beecher Stowe are first-rate, the sort of pieces that should be analogized in high school literature texts as examples of limpid prose in the hand of a master. Likewise, McCullough's condensation of his Great Bridge is a masterpiece of synthesis; and "Glory Days in Medora" is a classic of a fine and fair portrayal of a character (the Marquis de Morès) whom McCullough rightly finds distasteful.

Nevertheless, McCullough drops to the level of good journalism when he interviews living people, sometimes in "National Geographic style" ("A bell at the railroad crossing starts clanging, and Plowden, obviously delighted, tells me, `We're going to have a dividend.'" [177]) I admire McCullough as both a great writer and as a historian whom no jealous academic has yet been able to bring down. But frankly, jeremiads about strip mining and fawning depictions of profane photographers are not his strong suite. I bet he knows that now.

Here's a collection of magazine articles David McCullough published over the years. Some of the subjects were or would be expanded into longer works - The Brooklyn Bridge, the Panama Canal, Theodore Roosevelt - while other chapters concern such figures as Alexander von Humboldt, novelist Conrad Richter, Frederic Remington, naturalist Miriam Rothschild, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and photographer David Plowden. McCullough has a compelling way of making his subject noble, heroic, fearless, persistent - and endlessly fascinating. Best he makes you want to learn more, to delve deeper. Sometimes he leaves you hanging: "An account of a visit to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, suggests that once she [Harriet Beecher Stowe] may have taken a little too much claret." ...That's it, he never says what happened. He seems to enjoy little teasers like that. He has a great feel, though, for what many people find interesting, and has the old-fashioned historian's ability to tell a good story. This collection is enlightening and a pleasure to read.

I have not read a McCullough book that I don't like. This is a great book. It is a collection of short stories, snippets of history and the people who made the history. Some of these are people you might know like Teddy Rosevelt. Others are quirky interesting characters worth hearing and reading about. An enjoyable read.

Well worth the money.

This book is quite mediocore. The book although not horrible was somewhat dissapointing. Some of the stories are definately better than others. This is surely not McCullough's best novel.

David McCullough may be the most revered historian of the twentieth and twenty-first century. This may be somewhat exaggerated, but he keeps the romanticism of the past alive. The cover artwork of BRAVE COMPANIONS: PORTRAITS IN HISTORY shows the wide open spaces of the American landscape, which may suggest the stories and adventures that readers will discover when they read this book. McCullough revisits legendary and not as legendary individuals in American history that have made an impact on American society for their individual contributions. McCullough presents these individuals and their stories as ordinary people and not larger than life characters, which textbooks or biographies have portrayed them to be. Surprisingly, he earned a degree in English and not in History. However, that does not restrict him from preserving the memory of the past in a colorful way. His eloquent and personal writing style entices many to enjoy extensive pages of his narratives on historical figures such as, John Adams, George Washington, and Harry S. Truman.

BRAVE COMPANIONS: PORTRAITS IN HISTORY compiles early essays that McCullough wrote prior to and in between writings of his most notable novels that involved the Brooklyn Bridge, the Panama Canal, and a list of other topics that have found their way into his writings. BRAVE COMPANIONS paints a broad picture of Americana through these essays, and offers a somewhat personal glimpse of literary and historical figures such as, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Louis Agassiz, Miriam Rothschild, and Alexander von Humboldt, as ordinary people who happened to make it into the history books. McCullough introduces each character like an old friend; these are the people he grew to know through his studies and research, and this is his ode to a few of them.

The concluding chapters are the most interesting. McCullough summarizes what history means to him, and how far American history has come. The essay entitled "Recommended Itinerary" reads like a graduation address to graduating college students. McCullough merely states that their learning does not end when they leave the halls of their education, but rather continues when they further discover new areas of learning either through books, travel, or the people they meet. Their education only comes alive when they visit historical monuments, museums, or actual places in which they have only read or talked about in school.

What a great read. The profiles in this book are filled with the life and passion so intrinsic to McCullough's work. History comes alive--a phrase often overused but perfectly suited to this unique book. We are enchanted, saddened, charmed, intrigued, and ultimately touched by this carefully chosen selection of lives well-lived. Perfect for relaxing reading during slow summer days, or for history readers everywhere. That the book will appeal to both types of readers is McCullough's gift.

We already knew that McCullough could write history like a great novelist. Here we discover that he can also write history like a great short story writer.

McCullough fans will recognize some of the characters and material included here-- characters from Teddy Roosevelt's American West, the Roeblings of the Brooklyn Bridge, and some remarkable drawings that they left behind. These slightly familiar portions are a treat, like finding little "extras" left over from McCullough's other books.

But there are other characters here as well. Other writers like the extraordinary Harriet Beecher Stowe, whom everyone knows about, but not very much. Or Harry Caudill, a modern day lawyer who became an Appalachian activist. Some of them, like Alexander von Humbolt the South American explorer, will lead the reader to think first, "I've never heard of this person" and second, "Why haven't I?!"

Some of these are works of history; some are really works of journalism. And while all are loosely linked by themes of human courage and dedication, what really links them is that McCullough saw something important in these stories and so wrote about them.

This is a great book to introduce someone with a not-quite-a-whole-book attention span to top-notch historical writing. And for McCullough fans, it's a great chance to see his magazine writing collected.

Since reading my first David McCullough book, MORNINGS ON HORSEBACK, I was delighted and impressed by the author's depth of research and his easy style of writing. I loved his book, JOHN ADAMS and also TRUMAN. The author can be trusted with the facts and although the books are long, the reader doesn't want them to end - they are that interesting! I plan to read all of David McCullough's books.

BRAVE COMPANIONS is a wonderful easily readable book of interesting in depth portraits of people with a purpose. The author makes his portrayals come alive in a unique way. You will learn how history was shaped by ordinary people who did amazing things. I was familiar with only a few such as Harriet Beecher Stowe and Charles and Anne Lindbergh, and was so pleasantly surprised to read about many others such as Miriam Rothschild and David Plowden. I am happy to have met all of these different and exceptional folks. The last chapter, Simon Willard's Clock is just plain great!

Be warned - when you begin reading this informative book, you will not stop until completing it and you will want to know even more about each subject - it's that good! And, like me, you will buy a few copies to give as gifts.

This book is another McCullough masterpiece. A collection of articles and essays published by McCullough in the past few decades, this book is truly the epitome of well written and researched history. McCullough definately knows how to make his subjects (dead people and events that very few people know about) come back to life. His prose flows like a fictional narrative. The people and events discussed are enough to make you wonder often if the book is fiction. But it's not. All of McCullough's sources are authentic. And what he doesn't know, he'll admit - a sign of a true historian.

If you like history you'll love this book. As an amateur historian myself I greatly appreciated the last few chapters in the book where McCullough emphasized the importance of learning our history, as well as the need for us to write our own. This is a short, but highly entertaining and beneficial book. Highly recommended.

David McCullough is, arguably, the best popular historian of his generation. He has written amazing historical works ("The Johnstown Flood," "The Path Between the Seas," "The Great Bridge) and outstanding Presidential biographies ("Truman," "John Adams," "Mornings on Horseback"). In addition, over the years he has produced numerous shorter pieces for magazines, which were bound together for "Brave Companions."

As a historian, McCullogh has always been very interested in the lives of people, hence the title of the book. In his narrative he brings to life a number of historical figures, some of whom have become quite obscure. Alexander von Humboldt, for example, was a contemporary of Lewis and Clark whose scientific expedition to South America may have been a more impressive feat than the journey of the two Americans. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" author Harriet Beecher Stowe and Old West painter/sculptor Frederic Remington are the subjects of short but frank mini-biographies.

The biographical material remains McCullogh's strong suit and represents the best parts of this collection. A few of the other pieces don't work quite as well. Some were written as long as 30 plus years ago and are dated today. As with any collection of this kind, the reader is likely to focus on those articles that are of the most personal interest. At less that 250 pages of text, the book is a relatively quick read compared to most of McCullough's works.

Overall, an excellent historical work that will particularly be enjoyed by fans of David McCullough.