The makings of a Western classic, Michael Punke's novel The Revenant provides muscle and sinew to the vengeful and epic tale of mountain man Hugh Glass that even a sow grizzly couldn't rend asunder. Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire novelsA superb revenge story. The Washington Post Book WorldOne of the great tales of the nineteenth-century West. The Salt Lake TribuneAbout the AuthorMichael Punke serves as the U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. He has also served on the White House National Security Council staff and on Capitol Hill. He was formerly the history correspondent for Montana Quarterly, and an adjunct professor at the University of Montana. He is the author of Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mine Disaster of 1917, and Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West. His family home is in Montana. how can i read books online for free without downloading The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge
211 of 227 people found the following review helpful. High Adventure that Delivers!By J. K. GriceThe word REVENANT is defined as "a person who returns, especially supposedly from the dead." There could be no better title for Michael Punke's high spirited western novel. In these pages, we discover historical fiction at its best. Though the book was published some years ago, it seems to be garnering more attention with a re-release, as well as anticipation of the movie THE REVENANT starring Leonardo DiCaprio, due out in January 2016. At any rate, the story centers around legendary "mountain man" Hugh Glass. The time period is the early 1820's, when traders and fur companies were searching out domains in the Rocky Mountains, and in the present day states of Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, and the Dakotas. It is also a time only 18 years removed from the return of Lewis and Clark from the Pacific and the triumphs of the Corps of Discovery. Word had spread throughout our young nation of the vast areas of lands where a fortune might be made through the hunting and trapping of animals. The lust for furs, hides, and pelts to propitiate European buyers played a major role in this westward expansion. Thus, endeavors like The Rocky Mountain Fur Company sprang into existence and vied with one another to gain strong footholds in prime furbearer sections of the enormous Missouri Territory. Often, financial backing was based out of St. Louis, where teams of men were organized to venture up the Missouri River, as well as its tributaries. The book centers around one such team led by a Captain Henry and included such members as John Fitzgerald, Jim Bridger, and Hugh Glass. Along with surviving the harsh elements of the Wild, these men also had to defend themselves against hostile Indian tribes like the Arikara and the Blackfeet. In addition, there was great competition from the Spanish and French that added to the urgency of securing tracts of land rich for trapping. Much of what we know of these early "mountain men" is centered around both facts and legends. Hugh Glass, Jedediah Smith, and Jim Bridger were three of the first actual white men who ventured into the Rocky Mountains and beyond. In THE REVENANT, we are given an exciting glimpse into a very early and virgin American West. It is no secret that Hugh Glass was a central figure at the time, and he was indeed attacked by a grizzly bear and left for dead by his party. Punke does such a marvelous job of weaving fact and fiction together, and he elaborates on this merger at the novel's end. What I found most fascinating about this moving saga were the rich backgrounds we are given involving the histories of the major characters. We are treated to accounts not only of Glass, but also of Bridger, Fitzgerald, Henry, and the French voyageurs. The descriptions of the bear ordeal, of Glass's stoic determination, of the Indian attacks, and of survival in the brutal wilderness itself were absolutely compelling. Punke's knowledge and visceral prose make for story telling at its finest. If you enjoy films like JEREMIAH JOHNSON and books like UNDAUNTED COURAGE or CROW KILLER, I believe you will find THE REVENANT to be a splendid read that is well worth your time....0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A Grizzly of a TaleBy Christine MeadsI wanted to read this book because I saw the trailer on the TV for the movie. And I do like history type movies.The story starts out with groups of men heading west because of the fur trade (mid 1800s). Yellowstone has been discovered as Coulter's Hell and Jim Bridger is still a young man. Hugh Glass joins one such group traveling up the Missouri. Hugh Glass and another member of the group go off hunting for meat and Hugh gets attacked by a bear. The leader has men in the group carry him and until they can no longer due to the time constraints. Leaving two people behind with Glass who hasn't died yet (Fitzgerad and Bridger), the group goes on. Fitzgerald gets antsy and decides before the Indians get him and Bridger, they leave, even though Glass hasn't died yet. They take his gun and knife, leaving the man without anything to survive with.Glass survives and decides to go after the two men who left him behind. This is his story of what happened afterward.The one thing that I didn't like about the story is that it kind of left you hanging of what happened to Glass and Fitzgerald in the end. The ending does have some closing with Bridger but of the other two not much is said. But it was an interesting read.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Looking forward to seeing the movie next. Loved the book.By Yonah reviewerI'm really enjoying this book and I wasn't so sure I would, given what I thought it would be about. But its written in such a way that it holds my interest well and appeals to me. Normally a book about fur trappers and the wilderness wouldn't sound like something I could get into. But the events that set it off and the beautifully descriptive writing about the landscape and people and action captured my interest fully. It has lots of excitement and near peril and danger to keep it exciting. And for me, a non-fiction lover the best part is that its based on a true incident of heroism in the history of the American West back in 1822. A blend of a few different subjects that I am crazy about, the old American West, history, true stories and crime.It's about betrayal and revenge, but also so much more. The main character Hugh Glass was a real life fur trapper and frontiersman who led quite a life and I'll probably be looking for more to read on him.