Books about Overland from Amazon.com

In Dark Star Safari the wittily observant and endearingly irascible Paul Theroux takes readers the length of Africa by rattletrap bus, dugout canoe, cattle truck, armed convoy, ferry, and train. In the course of his epic and enlightening journey, he endures danger, delay, and dismaying circumstances. Gauging the state of affairs, he talks to Africans, aid workers, missionaries, and tourists. What results is an insightful meditation on the history, politics, and beauty of Africa and its people, and "a vivid portrayal of the secret sweetness, the hidden vitality, and the long-patient hope that lies just beneath the surface" (Rocky Mountain News). In a new postscript, Theroux recounts the dramatic events of a return to Africa to visit Zimbabwe..
Price: $5.98 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A provocative question-and-answer format and a multitude of facts bring to life the Oregon Trail in the 1840s. New larger format with full-color illustrations..
Price: $2.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In late October 1846, the last wagon train of that year's westward migration stopped overnight before resuming its arduous climb over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, unaware that a fearsome storm was gathering force. After months of grueling travel, the 81 men, women and children would be trapped for a brutal winter with little food and only primitive shelter. The conclusion is known: by spring of the next year, the Donner Party was synonymous with the most harrowing extremes of human survival. But until now, the full story of what happened, what it tells us about human nature and about America's westward expansion, remained shrouded in myth.
Drawing on fresh archaeological evidence, recent research on topics ranging from survival rates to snowfall totals, and heartbreaking letters and diaries made public by descendants a century-and-a-half after the tragedy, Ethan Rarick offers an intimate portrait of the Donner party and their unimaginable ordeal: a mother who must divide her family, a little girl who shines with courage, a devoted wife who refuses to abandon her husband, a man who risks his life merely to keep his word. But Rarick resists both the gruesomely sensationalist accounts of the Donner party as well as later attempts to turn the survivors into archetypal pioneer heroes. "The Donner Party," Rarick writes, "is a story of hard decisions that were neither heroic nor villainous. Often, the emigrants displayed a more realistic and typically human mixture of generosity and selfishness, an alloy born of necessity."
A fast-paced, heart-wrenching, clear-eyed narrative history, A Desperate Hope casts new light on one of America's most horrific encounters between the dream of a better life and the harsh realities such dreams so often must confront.
Praise for Desperate Passage:
"His is the first significant book, written, like Stewart's, in a novelistic mode and likely to gain popular readership, to incorporate this new data.... Rarick's account is not really about science; it's about humanity.... Rarick has done his homework."--New York Times Book Review
"Rarick takes an evenhanded and thorough approach to the story of the Donners' covered-wagon migration across the country and their winter entrapment in the Sierras. His telling is evocative and easy to read."--Seattle Times
"With a reporter's doggedness and a scholar's thoroughness, Rarick has clarified the historical details. ... Rarick makes this compelling frontier drama all the more so."--National Geographic Adventure Magazine.
Price: $15.58 [Notify me when price goes down.]

If you've always wanted to learn how to program a computer, or to learn the popular C++ programming language, here's the perfect book and CD to get you started You'll find everything you need patiently explained and clearly illustrated, from general programming concepts and techniques to the particulars of the C++ language. In no time, you'll be writing your own programs! Yes, programming can be a complex task, and C++ is a language often used by professionals. In fact, many of the coolest games , graphics, and Internet applications are created with C++. But the language, like the monster on the cover, need not be all that fearsome. Broken down to its essentials, and enhanced by simple examples and practical exercises, you'll be amazed at the quick progress you can make.With C++ Without Fear, you will *Learn the basics of C++ programming *Get started writing your own programs *See how and why each piece of a program does what it does *Create useful and reusable program code *Understand object-oriented programming--for once explained in simple, down-to-earth terms Whether you wish to learn C++ programming for pleasure--and you'll discover here how much fun it can be--or might be considering a career in programming, this book is an intelligent first step. The accompanying CD-ROM contains a free C++ compiler for writing and running C++ programs, which will let you get started right away. It also includes all the examples and answers to all the exercises in the book. The CD-ROM will run on any PC running MS-DOS or Windows..
Price: $17.90 [Notify me when price goes down.]

California,
here we come!

Faith's Pa says there's no room on a wagon train for Josefina, a chicken who's too tough to eat and too old to lay eggs. But Faith loves her pet. Can Josefina show Pa that she still has a few surprises left in her?

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Price: $0.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In 1853, the Larkin family loaded their covered wagon and headed west on the Oregon trail in search of a new life. How did they do it? What did they eat? How did they dress? How did they survive sickness or attacks from cattle thieves? Drawing on diaries and letters, and illustrated with photos of actual objects from the past, Daily Life in a Covered Wagon explores what life was really like on the wagon train. Full-color illustrations, b&w photos..
Price: $3.75 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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Price: $8.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Thirteen-year-old Hattie Campbell records the details of her family's harrowing migration to Oregon in a covered wagon and describes the many challenges, both joyful and tragic, that mark the journey..
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Mountain man Preacher's plans to attend the annual rendezvous are changed when he agrees to lead a train of sixty wagons on the last leg of the rugged trail to Oregon, confronting scheming outlaws and hostile Native Americans along the way. Reissue..
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Nine-year-old Mary Ellen Todd, filled with the pioneer spirit, treks cross country in 1852 with her family in search of a better life. The Todds survive Indians and swollen rivers, but what will happen when mother has a new baby and winter arrives? Jean Van Leeuwen has written highly acclaimed book for both children and young adults, including Dear Mom, You're Ruining My Life..
Price: $2.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]