The book reads like a novel, with a cast of fascinating characters that the average reader isn't likely to know about while history textbooks use broad strokes to paint the picture of the early settlers to the Northwest Territory, McCullough takes a deep dive, and does so with assured, unshowy prose. Lovers of history told well know that McCullough is one of the best writers of our past, and his latest will only add to his acclaim." Michael Schaub writes for NPR.org, “Like McCullough's other books, The Pioneers succeeds because of the author's strength as a storyteller. The region and its occupants come alive in McCullough’s hands. He takes the history of the area and turns what could be dry and dull into vibrant and compelling tales. It is a story as resonant today as ever.” Jeff Ayers writes for Associated Press, "McCullough is a master of research along with being a wonderful storyteller. The Pioneers is the account not just of one Ohio settlement but of myriad such places across America, where innumerable immigrants (as the settlers were known) came to make a fresh start in a strange land.
How critics view the book: Gerard Helferich writes for The Wall Street Journal, “David McCullough has become perhaps our best-loved chronicler of America’s past. This book is a unique story of ambitious people who achieved remarkable things in their lives. The Pioneers is drawn from a rare and unknown diaries' collection by prominent figures. This North-west Territory later developed into the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. They were the pioneers of building a new town in the wilderness, while coping with floods fires, wild animals and sometimes hostile relationships with native people.
In this book, McCullough tells this stunning story through five main characters- Cutler, Putnam, Cutler’s son Ephraim, a carpenter who became an architect, and a physician.
In 1788 a bunch of war veterans, under former General Rufus Putnam's leadership, settled in the new land which is now known as Marietta. These were remarkable conditions in those times and it, in turn, laid the foundations of the new age America. The Northwest Ordinance included three conditions, namely: the freedom to choose religion, free education, and the prohibition of slavery. It was then that Manasseh Cutler, a Massachusetts minister, opened the lands to the Revolutionary War veterans and their families for settling. With the signing of the Treaty of Paris, Britain not only recognized the new United States of America but also gave-up the North-west Territory. Pulitzer Prize-winning author-historian David McCullough's 2019 book The Pioneers rediscovers the story of the dauntless pioneers who settled in the Northwest Territory and built a community based on ideas that define America.
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