A Newer World: Kit Carson, John C. Frémont, and the Claiming of the American West — by David Roberts (history nonfiction) is a vivid, deeply researched narrative exploring the intertwined lives and expeditions of two towering figures in the U.S. westward expansion: frontiersman Kit Carson and explorer‑soldier John C. Frémont. Roberts follows their journeys from 1842 through the mid‑1850s into largely uncharted Western territories that helped define the emerging United States. Drawing on little‑known primary sources and his own travels in these landscapes, he recreates their harrowing treks — second in importance only to Lewis and Clark’s — and illustrates how their actions advanced America’s “Manifest Destiny.” Alongside tales of hardship and adventure, the book offers a thoughtful, modern‑sensitive critique of the cultural tragedy these expeditions inflicted on Native American peoples, portraying the complex impact of exploration, conquest, and settlement on the American West.