The Men Who United the States: America's Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible

As with most books of this type, it can get bogged down in details that, unless you're using the book as a reference for an essay, doesn't add much value to the casual reader. It still moves along fairly smoothly and does not read like a history book, as I feared. It reads like a collection of short stories -- some good, some not as good.

By far, not my favorite of Winchester's books. I'm not sold on the idea that this book needed to be written in the first place, frankly, especially in the way that it was. In the end it's sort of a glorified how-the-West-was-won narrative, though it extends before and after the actual taking of the western lands into the hands of Europeans and their descendants. There are a few interesting insights, and any book like this will surprise with a few facts that contradict what you thought you knew. I found Winchester's writing style engaging, as usual.

But did I come away with a greater understanding of how the United States came to be such a large community (if in fact we even accept that premise)?

Not really.

Is there enough value in the individual stories of the eponymous Men to justify a book about their exploits—and especially to justify yet another history book which disregards the contributions of women & people of color?

Not really.