The Overmountain Men (Tennessee Frontier Trilogy Book 1)

This was a great story about a place and time period that isn't taught in school. I appreciated that the author covered the period through the eyes and ears of very different people. When white colonial 'long hunters' disobeyed British law (Proclamation of 1763) by starting settlements west of the Appalachian Mts., the clash between cultures and value systems had nearly catastrophic results. In the end, only the strongest survive...only the side with most resources can prevail. I found the Cherokee culture very fascinating, and at times it rang true for even modern men. It is the young who have the luxury of standing steadfast to their own principles. Wisdom is most often dependent on having lived and learned from so many experiences that those who are wise better see the harsh reality, while the youthful believe they can (almost) single handedly bend the inevitable to their way of thinking. From varied characters,this novel reflects soon what can happen when several cultures collided. ...Now, how could this story end differently if each culture was represented equally, so the Cherokee, Shawnee, hunters, speculators and settlers had equal say instead? I suppose there was no political correctness then, as if being politically correct today guarantees culture equality in our great nation...

This book sparked my interest because I've always loved westerns and because I have family roots in the Cumberland Gap area. For me, the mark of good historical fiction is the weaving together seamlessly of the lives of fictional characters with actual history. This book had the makings of a great story, but it seemed the characters and their relationships were just tossed in willy nilly with a chronological history of the battles between Native Americans and frontiersmen and descriptions of life on the frontier. I felt as if I were reading two books--one a novel and one a history, and I often found myself skimming . The characters could have been interesting, but needed more fleshing out for me to care much about them. I won't be reading the rest of the trilogy.

The era on which this book focuses is not unfamiliar to me, having studied colonial and Revolutionary-period history of southern Appalachia for many years. What this book does is breathe life into the men and women who lived and experienced these times in a way that non-fiction never can.

I stumbled across this book by accident while searching for something to read, so I thought I would give it a try. I've always enjoyed historical fiction about the early settlers and the frontier. To my surprise once I started reading I realized it was set in the area where I grew up and still call home. Places like Fort Loudon, Choto , and that made all the more interesting. Its a clean wholesome book without "swearing and cussin". I'm now reading the second book in the series "The Border Men" and plan to go onto the third book "The Canebreak Men". I see that Mr. Judd has written several other books about the frontier and the men and women who lived in those times, I plan to read those as time allows. I feel as if I've come across a treasury of books that will keep me busy for quite sometime. Thank you Mr. Judd

The Overmountain Men (Tennessee Frontier Trilogy) I have read only the first two of these wonderful historical novels, but every few pages I find names with which I am familiar from the study of my genealogy.Although I realize these are works of fiction, they are so deftly interlaced with historical facts that I now have a much clearer picture of how my ancestors must have lived in the early years of the migration "over the mountains" to Tennessee, Kentucky and points west and south.I will be looking forward to finishing the trilogy in the next few weeks.

Growing up watching Fess Parker’s “Daniel Boone” TV series I have always been drawn to stories of the Kentucky/Tennessee/Carolina Frontier. This novel was a good one. A good book leaves you wanting more. And this one does.

I love this book. I lost my copy in a move and my daughter wanted to read it. Was easy to find a replacement on Amazon and it came within a couple of days. When she is done with it, I think I'll read it again. Good story based on the real thing which in itself is an amazing story of our American History.

l learned a lot of the settlers movements and some of the Indian's life and struggles during that time. i wish we could have learned a little more about the indian culture . at times it moved a little slow, but i very much enjoyed reading about joshua and his life and how it interacted together with fate.