The authors, historians and teachers, provide a detailed picture of frontier life, discussing the explorers, traders, missionaries, colonists, and native peoples and the environments in which they lived. Examining the period from the perspective of both Europeans and Native Americans, the volume includes some 40 b&w illustrations, photographs (many of which portray reenacted scenes), and maps, as well as a chronology. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)