Northwest Passage

Not being terribly familiar with North America, especially that of the wild days of the late 18th century, just before the American War of Independence, I read this book with an open atlas at my elbow. This enabled me not only to read a ripping and entertaining yarn, or three, of adventures and endurance, but also learn lots about the geography and history of those times. This alone gave me enormous satisfaction.The title is somewhat deceptive. The Northwest Passage, as I understand it, was the [...]

I read Northwest Passage for the first time when I was ten and my mom picked it up at a garage sale. I then proceeded to read everything else by Roberts I could find. Why do I still believe the books still stack up so well over time? First, Roberts was a historian and a rigorous one. His command of history and detail is immense and complex. Also, he does not present early American history as peopled only by noble settlers and bloodthirsty Indians and selfless leaders. He portrays the good and ba [...]

I was very surprised to learn that the author had been one of the best journalists in America, before retiring in order to become a novelist. The skills of journalism have since clearly changed for the worse. I’ve learnt to be very cautious when picking up a book written by a journalist of our present day.I found this book to be riveting reading; which given the length of this novel is a good thing!. I was terribly disappointed when I discovered the film of the similar-ish name (dir. Alfred Hi [...]

I've always been a nut about American Indians, reading almost everything in libraries from elementary school through high school. Northwest Passage was one of my favorites as a teen, but I hadn't give it a thought in more than two-score (!) years until a lapsed friend and I reconnected for a New Year's drink. It turned out he was an Indian aficionado, too, with the French and Indian War (1754-1763) being one of his specialties. I was so stoked after I got home that I bought the book and plunged [...]

Robert Rogers is not much talked about these days, and so far as I know was never taught in schools. His name is inseparable from that curious time in American history, the mid-1700s, when we, a British colony, made war on France and native populations for possession of the continent. Despite what the school books imply, it was never a given that Britain would control North America. Until the American Revolution, hegemony on these shores was very much in doubt. Rogers made it much less so. Roger [...]

So long ago I read this book, it was one book that I got as a gift when I was young that I truly enjoyed. The story of Landon Towne and his "little trip" with Major Robert Rogers and the Rangers, would set the imagination of any young man on fire, as it did mine. It later inspired me to track the story of Robert down and of course it takes a sad down turn as so many did. Still this story of determination, courage, duty not to mention cruelty and madness is still a good one.

I enjoyed Roberts' writing style immensely: the prose was rich and nuanced, it reminded me of Patrick O'Brian. However, the novel did not sit well with me: it's really two books in one. The first part deals with Robert Rogers' St. Francis raid- our fictional protagonist joins Roger's Rangers on the eve of their raid on St. Francis. This tale is briskly told, conveying the dangers and hardships of the mission, weaving historical figures into the narrative and accurately (as far as I can tell) por [...]

The best fiction makes us think about ourselves in ways we haven't or ways we simply don't. It is allegorical and turns a mirror onto our human foibles. The best fiction makes us think without realizing that we're doing it.In finishing Northwest Passage I was struck by a pair of sentences written in the last five pages of the novel that seemed to jump out at me as representative of what this country has become.In the first, the character Ann Potter rails against King George's England, which she [...]

Another great boook by this author. My darling husband found it for me in an antique shop! I loved the perspective of the main character when he found his hero, turned antagonist in a debtor's prison, "so low that a man could go no lower this side of the grave." His forgiveness was apparent as he expressed, "I suspected, there in that same grime, but for the grace of God, might lie any of us, our talents quenched and our best dreams beaten." p. 694

I was lucky enough to read this in my youth, another one of those books that came my way, when I think of it something or somebody must have been passing these along to me, was it my eye or providence that lead me to these books. I know it has left an impression that has been with me all this time, I think I just identified with central character, then to get the chance to go and walk on the the same ground. Life is beautiful don't you just love being alive? Oh and reading books of course.

I enjoyed this book even though it wasn't quite what I expected. It's called Northwest Passage, but it really has very little to do with the Northwest Passage. Go figure. Other than that small quibble, I really liked the characters and the story kept me turning the pages!

This book was recommended to me by my father. I was doubtful and expected it to be boring. On the contrary, it had a little bit of everything--adventure, romance, history--I loved every minute of it and was sad to see it come to an end. It is an epic, sweeping story. Stellar in every way.

I bought this in an op shop. I had seen the movie many years ago starring Spencer Tracy. It is very long. The 1948 hardcover version I have is 709 pages long. Interesting story based in history of Robert Rogers and his Rangers in pre Revolution USA. Story is told by a first person Langdon Towne who we are to believe is a painter/artist who went with Rogers on many wild adventures and drew pictures of the area and the Indians. Of course tjat character is fictional. The writing style of kenneth Ro [...]

This is the best book I've read in quite some time. Roberts did an exemplary job of fleshing out the characters and fine work of bringing even the scenery to life. I've been intrigued by Major Robert Rogers and his Rangers since watching the series called Turn which is set during the American Revolution. This book gives readers a look at events prior and is really interesting. The author shows the man and his many facets. I've enjoyed Kenneth Roberts Arundel, but this one surpasses it. I highly [...]

Enjoyed it- though many references to other races were indeed, from another less evolved time. A bit long, but the first half is great early American history. I liked Rabble At Arms a bit better.

This is a great book, that tales readers back into history during a tumultuous time. The author does an amazing job with the feel of this book and taking readers into not only the tragedies but the amazing partnership of those just trying to protect the country.

Excellent narrative

I read this originally 20 yrs ago and it was even better this time. In my all time top 5 favorite books!!!!

Northwest Passage remains one of the few American novels one could call an epic. The passage of about 80 years hasn't dimmed it. It's a great character study spanning a frontier wartime adventure in 1759 and then a descent into drink, ambition and other personal dissolution in the second half.Robert Rogers was one of the most colourful figures in what were then the American colonies — the founder of a specialized military group he called the Rangers, and later one of the most determined of the [...]

Tiene 700 páginas y la he dejado en la página 500, que tiene más mérito. La novela no está mal, está bastante bien escrita y resulta entretenida, pero su estructura conduce directamente al desaliento del lector, al menos de este lector. Lo que al parecer quiere contar, si nos guiamos por el título es el descubrimiento por parte del capitán Robert Rogers, fundador de los Rangers, de una ruta hacia el Océano Pacífico por el Noroeste de Norteamérica como una forma rápida de llegar a Jap [...]

I remember my father reading each new Kenneth Roberts book as it was published; the books sat on a bookshelf in my parents’ home and eventually found their way to me. Langdon Towne, a former Harvard student with an aptitude for art, leaves his home town of Portsmouth, NH in a hurry because of some political remarks that he makes which are overheard by the wrong persons. He also has been turned down by the girl he loves because her father feels that being a painter is an unworthy occupation. He [...]

Today this book would be published as two novels, but in the late 1930s novels weren't taken seriously if they were less than 600 pages. I would give Book Two four stars. It's a fast-paced account of the raid conducted by Rogers' Rangers on the Abenaki village of St. Francis in October 1759. The author was known as a stickler for historical accuracy in his novels, but his story tends to follow the exaggerated account of the raid’s success later made by Rogers. The author also fails to mention [...]

One of my favorite books ever! Langdon Towne, a former Harvard student with an aptitude for art, leaves his home town of Portsmouth, NH in a hurry because of some political remarks that he makes which are overheard by the wrong persons. He also has been turned down by the girl he loves because her father feels that being a painter is an unworthy occupation. He joins up with Robert Rogers and his Rangers, who are on their way to St. Francis, in Quebec, to fight the Indians. Their two-month round [...]

The first 200 or 300 pages of this book would have make a good novel. I started off loving it. The beginning was set in Portsmouth, so I was amusing by the name dropping of all the towns that I live minutes away from (Ipswich! Newburyport!). The writing reminded me of Mark Twain if Twain wrote about colonial times. There was humor and some good adventure. But then everything took a weird, lengthy turn when the main character went to London to learn to paint. The middle dragged, and the character [...]

This classic book, a fictional biography of Robert Rogers, was first published in 1939. Rogers, who has been credited with founding the U.S. Army Rangers, was an amazing man who achieved fame and success early in life,yet was plagued by alcoholism and involved in harebrained schemes later in life that ruined his reputation and his marriage. His actions in the Fr. and Indian War brought him to the attention of military leaders and gave him a renown that exists to this day.The book is divided into [...]

Rarely does one read an author like Roberts. His research, to me, is flawless. His characters are well-developed, the conversations are true-to-life, and his style is from heaven itself. Only a Faulkner or a Tolstoy can surpass him, in this reader's world. "Northwest Passage" is a sprawling historical novel that describes so much more than its title. The reader is sent into American Native culture, into the society of New England and the frontier, to London, with Ben Franklin and Hogarth, and al [...]

This book gets very good from page 50. Supposedly the second book is not close but I heard similar complaints about Oliver Wiswell.The book is less predictable than his other titles but the best thus far is still Rabble in Arms.Usually, the lead is just a foil for the excellent supporting cast. In this case the lead is his best so far. Cap Huff makes a few cameos along with Benedict Arnold is the only Roberts character in three books.Heroes rise and fall in this book. The love story is better de [...]

What a delightful book! Written in 1936 by Kenneth Roberts, this novel was so well researched, it rang true in most respects. It was very long, but so worth reading, and I enjoyed it immensely. The story of its main character, Langdon Towne was all fiction, but the historic perspective and many of the players in that stage of our history were very real. Historically, a gem, but Langdon's story, as an artist who wishes to go with Robert Rogers to seek the Northwest Passage so he may paint Indians [...]

What an exciting historical novel! Written in the 1930s, turned into both a movie and a TV series 20 years later, it is the classic tale of Redcoats, provincial volunteers, savages, war, blood, guts, gore, abiding friendship, royal injustice, betrayal by a false love and wilderness survival in colonial America circa 1750. It stereotypes Native Americans and tries to redeem the reputation of the historical founder of Rogers' Rangers, a group of adventurers famous for their victories and survival [...]

Kenneth Roberts classic tale about he French & Indian War. This book was turned into a movie starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Young & Walter Brennan. The movie only covers the first half the book. It is an engrossing story and gives you a taste of what it must have been like in the early days of America. This is a sweeping work of historical fiction set in almost primitive New England. I have a strong connection to this work because my folks owned a farmhouse in Sanbornton, NH where one of [...]