Steve Inskeep tells the riveting story of John and Jessie Frémont, the husband and wife team who in the 1800s were instrumental in the westward expansion of the United States, and thus became America's first great political couple John C. Frémont, one of the United States's leading explorers of the nineteenth century, was relatively unknown in 1842, when he commanded the first of his expeditions to the uncharted West. But in only a few years, he was one of the most acclaimed people of the age - known as a wilderness explorer, bestselling writer, gallant army officer, and latter-day conquistador, who in 1846 began the United States's takeover of California from Mexico. He was not even 40 years old when Americans began naming mountains and towns after him. He had perfect timing, exploring the West just as it captured the nation's attention. But the most important factor in his fame may have been the person who made it all possible: his wife, Jessie Benton Frémont. Jessie, the daughter of a United States senator who was deeply involved in the West, provided her husband with entrée to the highest levels of government and media, and his career reached new heights only a few months after their elopement. During a time when women were allowed to make few choices for themselves, Jessie - who herself aspired to roles in exploration and politics - threw her skill and passion into promoting her husband. She worked to carefully edit and publicize his accounts of his travels, attracted talented young men to his circle, and lashed out at his enemies. She became her husband's political adviser, as well as a power player in her own right. In 1856, the famous couple strategized as John became the first-ever presidential nominee of the newly established Republican Party. With rare detail and in consummate style, Steve Inskeep tells the story of a couple whose joint ambitions and talents intertwined with those of the nascent United States itself. Taking advantage of expanding news media, aided by an increasingly literate public, the two linked their names to the three great national movements of the time-westward settlement, women's rights, and opposition to slavery. Together, John and Jessie Frémont took parts in events that defined the country and gave rise to a new, more global America. Theirs is a surprisingly modern tale of ambition and fame; they lived in a time of social and technological disruption and divisive politics that foreshadowed our own. In Imperfect Union, as Inskeep navigates these deeply transformative years through Jessie and John's own union, he reveals how the Frémonts' adventures amount to nothing less than a tour of the early American soul.

TERRIFIC ADVANCE PRAISE: Jon Meacham calls this work of history "surprising and illuminating" and Candice Millard calls it a "fascinating, complex love story, a riveting adventure, and an important, carefully researched history, told with incredible power and skill by one of the country's best nonfiction writers."POWERHOUSE AUTHOR: As host of NPR's Morning Edition, Inskeep is beloved already by many Americans and this book only adds another string to his bow, confirming he is not just an award-winning journalist and celebrated author but a skilful historian to boot.A CELEBRITY THAT HAS ECHOED THROUGH HISTORY: John C. Frémont was a social and political phenomenon of a kind we associate with modern celebrity culture, he was not even 40 years old when Americans began naming mountains and towns after him, many of which still carry his name. You may have heard of John Frémont many times over without even realizing.CLASSIC ADVENTURE NARRATIVE: These days we take for granted that the world is mapped and easily navigable, but Inskeep returns us to the days of the wild west and of intrepid explorers who risk life and limb for fame and glory. Inskeep brings the trials and tribulations of Frémont and his expedition parties in thrilling, page-turning detail.IMPORTANT CONTEMPORAY POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS: The Frémonts faced an overarching question: for all their manifest flaws, could they help to build a more just and equal republic? We can ask the same of ourselves at a moment of crisis in America.