The career of John Charles Fremont (1813-90) ties together the full breadth of American expansionism from its 18th-century origins through its culmination in the Gilded Age. Tom Chaffin's biography demonstrates Fremont's vital importance to the history of American empire and illuminates his role in shattering long-held myths about the ecology and habitability of the American West.

As the most celebrated American explorer and mapper of his time, Fremont stood at the center of the vast federal project of Western exploration and conquest. His expeditions between 1838 and 1854 captured the public's imagination, inspired Americans to accept their nation's destiny as a vast continental empire, and earned him his enduring sobriquet, the Pathfinder.

But Fremont was more than an explorer. Chaffin's dramatic narrative includes Fremont's varied experiences as an entrepreneur, abolitionist, Civil War general, husband to the remarkable Jessie Benton Fremont, two-time Republican presidential candidate, and Gilded Age aristocrat.

"Pathfinder is the most eloquent, understanding, and yet very candid biography of Fremont that has appeared to date. A major contribution to American historical writing." (Howard R. Lamar, Yale University)

"In his mesmerizing biography, Tom Chaffin brings to life not only Fremont but the amazing personalities who populated his world." (Landon Jones, former managing editor, People magazine)

"In clear and vivid language, Tom Chaffin's Pathfinder re-creates the life of John C. Fremont..." (Elliott J. Gorn, Purdue University)