Follow the River | James Alexander Thom

Follow the River | James Alexander Thom | Follow The River

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Follow the River

	Follow the River James Alexander Thom Ballantine Books, 1986 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 124 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

No Place Like Home

People plan for years and train for years for the 1000 some odd miles trek of the Appalachian trail. Mary Ingles, a Scots-Irish American born young woman was a survivor of an Indian raid in the hills of what is now southwest Virginia and walked by foot, with minimal provisions, the 1000 some odd miles to get back to her people. The sacrifices she had to make were heart-wrenching, the survivors of these raids scarred for life. It's an amazing story of survival written by a former Marine.

My ancestors came from this region of America and later followed the Tennessee river to settle in Alabama, Mississippi, and lastly Memphis, TN. I've read stories of these raids which occurred during the French and Indian war of 1750-1755 in the library of my hometown where my great grandmother would do her geneaological research.

My mother gave me this book to read and I couldn't put it down. So much for my rock climbing lessons, Mary Ingles had to learn her foot and hand holds on her own. The terrain she had to go through in the Ohio river valley was probably not so easy to traverse. I thought of those beautiful pictures I've seen of the river gorges of West Virginia and would imagine this woman barefoot and bedraggled scrambling over these cliffs while I read this book.

The author literally tried to trace her paths and based this story from written accounts of Mary Ingles' ordeals.
George Washington might have met her since he was in the militias at the time and in the same area. The Colonel Patton of this tale might have been an ancestor of the WWII American general, whose grandfather fought for the Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War of 1860-1865.

The French and Indian War is somewhat of a misnomer, since the French didn't fight all the Indians, and all the Indians did not side with the French, but rather the French incited the Indians, particularly the Shawnee in this story, to attack the English colonists in North America. The Shawnee had been driven out by the Cherokee and Choctaw of the Carolinas and Virginias.

It's a well told tale full of suspense and surprises.

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Follow The River

This is a very good read. What our forebeares endured and others around the world to date face daily humbles the reader.

Fast read

I couldn't put this book down, even though I knew how it ended! I wanted to keep reading until she was kidnapped, then I wanted to keep reading until I knew what would happen to her while she was with the Indians, then....... I just couldn't put it down! I read it in 2 days. It's an amazing story. The fact that it really happened is also amazing. The author added to the legend to make it a interesting story but the reader can tell what were his own additions and what was the basic story. Fastinating!

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Follow the River

This was one of the most interesting books of its kind that I have ever read. The descriptions of the geography, characters and environment were most real. I stayed "glued" to it reading into the night and until my eyes were tired. A truly wonderful book

It's SOOO good you cannot believe it is true!!

Everyone who likes non-fiction MUST read this book. I could not put it down. Your kids should read it to appreciate what the early settlers dealt with. This is an amazing adventure that leaves you thirsty to know more. There is a book shop by my home that always keep it in stock as a MUST READ. Also, this book is about a woman and her incredible journey. There are few books about women's adventure like this, but the story appeals to all.

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