For decades after his death in 1789, John Ledyard was celebrated as the greatest explorer America had ever produced. A veteran of Captain Cook’s final voyage, he walked across nearly all of Russia and suggested to his friend Thomas Jefferson that traversing the American continent was feasible—inspiring the Lewis and Clark expedition. When he died he was preparing to venture into Africa. Once as famous as the Founding Fathers whom he had befriended and beguiled, the “American traveler,” as Ledyard was called, fell into obscurity over the years, reduced to becoming a foot­noted reference in Moby Dick .  Bill Gifford reenacted Ledyard’s 1773 escape from Dartmouth College in a canoe and followed Ledyard’s trail down the length of the Lena River in Siberia. In Ledyard he reveals the man in the legend, bringing back an American original and giving us a story that until now has not been fully told. John Ledyard, a renowned traveler and explorer, died in 1789, and a biography written in 1828 placed him in the pantheon of American heroes. Ledyard took part in three expeditions: Captain Cook's voyage to the Pacific, an expedition across North America that was later completed by Lewis and Clark, and the exploration of inner Africa led by the Scottish explorer Mungo Park. Ledyard left a handful of letters and a few scattered journals, most of which were expurgated by his relatives; others have been lost. "Over a period of four years," Gifford writes, "I pursued Ledyard from the Connecticut River to the North Atlantic Ocean, from the libraries of New England to the archives of Britain, and from the streets of Paris to Siberia." Gifford describes him as a complicated man--idealistic and mercenary, restless and lazy, chivalrous and uncelibate, and having a history of tantrums and fistfights. Gifford contends that Ledyard's life was a series of self-reinventions, and this rich and immensely detailed biography brings this obscure explorer to life. George Cohen Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved BILL GIFFORD attended Dartmouth College; unlike Ledyard, he graduated. His writing has appeared in Outside and the New York Times Magazine . He lives in Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania. BILL GIFFORD attended Dartmouth College; unlike Ledyard, he graduated. His writing has appeared in Outside and the New York Times Magazine . He is the features editor for Men's Journal and lives in Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania.