"I have long had a fascination with the story of the Donner Party. From the comfort of 2019, we can go back a century and a half and see what incredible strength these pioneers and emigrants had, leaving all they knew to make an overland journey to California. Wallis incorporates newly discovered historical documents and diaries into this book, and he does something I've not seen before - he gives a biography of sorts to everyone in the Donner-Reed wagon train; he emphasizes that these were PEOPLE, not characters in a horror story that ends with cannibalism and death. The reader comes to feel true empathy with each man, woman, and child who ends up trapped by 25' of snow at Truckee Lake, so close to the summit in the Sierra Nevadas that would take them over to their "promised land" but entirely unable to reach it. Wallis downplays the lurid details that people have attached to this story for decades; he shows that eating their dead was the only way that these people were going to survive. He shows their reality, highlighting that those related to a dead person were kept from eating the flesh of their family member, that they often cried and sat alone when eating, ashamed of what had brought them to this necessity. This book showed incredible heart and brought a beauty to both the survivors and the dead. "

"In the summer of 2019, I took my family to see the Sierras. With a morbid fascination with the Donner Party, we visited Truckee and the state park that bears their name. The guide was asked the best book about the Donner party, and she recommended The Best Land Under Heaven. It was a great recommendation.

Describing the backstory of the principle characters, Wallis sets up the wanderlust that leads midwesterners to strike out for the Pacific coast. The main characters are the Donners and James Reed, but Wallis does a good job of keeping the other nearly 80 characters knowable. Their adventures, their misadventures, their choices, and the consequences are laid out in a very readable history.

In one of the most beautiful places on earth, one of the ugliest incidents of human interaction occurred. Wallis tells the story in great contrasts, and it is notable that the choices that the group made led both to their being stranded and rescued--at least the ones that lived. The work is well researched and well written, and if the Donner Party is something you'd like to know more about, this is the book to read."

"The subject of people and entire families traveling by wagon trains from east of the Mississippi westward to Oregon and California through immense grasslands, deserts and the Rocky Mountains, has always intrigued me. What were their motivations? What were the logistics of such an endeavor? Prior to reading this book I had recently read, "Imperfect Union: How Jessie and John Tremont Mapped the West............" by Steve Inskeep. That book described Tremont's exploration of the same trails, mountain passes, winter dangers and hardships as later experienced by the Donner party wagon train only a couple of years later (1846 - 1847).

The author, Michael Wallis's narrative put me in the middle of the story and the story did become intense. In the first half of the book, I learned of the enthusiasm of the emigrants, their hopes, daily routines and their leadership dynamics. Most of the folks were likable some not so much. Most of the wagon train parties traveled along the well-known northern trail while the Donner party had chosen a little-known short cut. This and other misjudgments became tragic.

Frankly the second half of the book was hard to read. The details were uncomfortable. The wagon train fell behind and got trapped in the Sierra Navada Mountains with unusually heavy and constant snowstorms. Indians had stolen much of their livestock, they were running out of food and had little shelter. The suffering and deaths went on and on. The last of the food was from the bodies of the dead. This went on for several months until the arrival of several rescue parties.

This was a well written story with thorough research separating myth and facts. I have no regrets about reading the book, but I did wish for less depressing details. I noted that seven Good Reads members I follow also rated this book well."