The City of the Saints, and Across the Rocky Mountains to California (Summarized Edition)
Enriched edition. A British adventurer's Victorian travel memoir of the American West and Mormon settlementsBy Richard Francis Sir Burton
Length7h 30m
About this audiobook
The City of the Saints, and Across the Rocky Mountains to California condenses Sir Richard Francis Burton's 1860 Overland journey into a keen ethnographic and geographical survey. From the Missouri frontier through Salt Lake City to California, he records terrain, resources, stage logistics, and the Great Basin's political economy. His even-toned account of the Latter-day Saints - polygamy, governance under Brigham Young, ritual, settlement - sits beside sketches of Indigenous communities, all rendered in precise prose with itineraries, tables, and comparative notes, and situates his travelogue within the pre-Civil War transcontinental moment. A soldier-linguist and later translator of the Arabian Nights, Burton carried to the American West the comparative method refined in India and on his clandestine Mecca pilgrimage. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, he gathered dialects, myths, and measurements, reading Mormon Utah as a field laboratory and as a test of Victorian debates about new religious orders, overland communication, and imperial commerce. This volume will reward historians of religion and the American West, students of travel writing, and general readers seeking pre-railroad Western textures. Its skeptical balance, vivid scenes, and documentary rigor make it an essential primary source and a bracing counterpoint to later, more anecdotal narratives.
Quickie Classics summarizes timeless works with precision, preserving the author's voice and keeping the prose clear, fast, and readable—distilled, never diluted. Enriched Edition extras: Introduction · Synopsis · Historical Context · Brief Analysis · 4 Reflection Q&As · Editorial Footnotes.
Audiobook details
GenreTravel
Length7 hrs 30 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateApr 3, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2Introduction
3Synopsis
4Historical Context
5The City of the Saints, and Across the Rocky Mountains to California (pt. 1)
Show all chaptersShow less
6The City of the Saints, and Across the Rocky Mountains to California (pt. 2)
7The City of the Saints, and Across the Rocky Mountains to California (pt. 3)
8Analysis
9Reflection
More from Richard Francis Sir Burton
The Book of the Sword (Annotated)Richard Francis Sir Burton20h 51m3.9 (388)$2 · $0.00
First Footsteps in East AfricaRichard Francis Sir Burton12h 18m3.8 (508)$1 · $0.00
Vikram and the VampireRichard Francis Sir Burton8h 9m3.8 (832)$1 · $0.00
First Footsteps in East Africa (Annotated)Richard Francis Sir Burton12h 27m3.9 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
The City of the Saints, and Across the Rocky Mountains to California (Annotated)Richard Francis Sir Burton33h 52m4.0 (128)$0.99 · $0.00
Little PrincesConor Grennan9h 38m4.3 (27.6K)$29 · $0.00
Farthest North (The Complete Two-Volume Edition) (Annotated)Fridtjof Nansen31h 50m4.4 (865)$2 · $0.00
We are Soldiers StillHarold G. Moore, Joseph L. Galloway7h 46m4.4 (2.4K)$26 · $0.00
The Road to San DonatoRobert Cocuzzo7h 29m4.4 (397)$17 · $0.00
Around the World in 60 SecondsNuseir Yassin7h 48m4.4 (836)$26 · $0.00
The Midwest Survival GuideCharlie Berens6h 6m4.3 (4.9K)$24 · $0.00
The Home of the Blizzard (Annotated)Sir Douglas Mawson19h 2m4.3 (1.3K)$2 · $0.00
Local WondersTed Kooser6h 21m4.4 (978)$14 · $0.00
A Haunted Road AtlasChristine Schiefer, Em Schulz6h 46m4.3 (2.8K)$17
Over the Edge of the WorldLaurence Bergreen6h 14m4.3 (23.2K)$24 · $0.00
The Worst Journey in the WorldApsley Cherry-Garrard20h 5m4.3 (20.2K)$32
What Really Happened In WuhanSharri Markson16h 28m4.3 (4.8K)$40 · $0.00
Sailing Alone around the WorldJoshua Slocum7h 25m4.3 (31.2K)$17
American RambleNeil King10h 58m4.3 (2.8K)$29 · $0.00
White Waters and Black (Annotated)Gordon MacCreagh11h 56m4.5 (196)$2 · $0.00
Dear ParisJanice MacLeod5h 19m4.4 (669)$17
New York Nico's Guide to NYCNew York Nico4h 44m4.6 (77)$20 · $0.00
In The Footsteps Of RamaVikrant Pande, Neelesh Kulkarni9h 45m4.3 (778)$16 · $0.00
The Old WaysRobert Macfarlane11h 23m4.2 (17.1K)$20
Scott’s Last ExpeditionRobert Falcon Scott18h 35m4.3 (3K)$32
You may also like
Typee: A Romance of the South SeasHerman Melville11h 51m3.7 (8.7K)$2.30 · $0.00
The Amur RiverColin Thubron10h 13m4.1 (1.8K)$29 · $0.00
Travels into TurkeyOgier Ghislain de Busbec9h 20m4.3 (313)$2.30
Cat TaleCraig Pittman9h 45m4.3 (1.6K)$29 · $0.00
The Happy Isles of OceaniaPaul Theroux24h 8m4.1 (8.6K)$53 · $0.00
Pictures in UmbriaKatharine S. Macquoid4h 52m$1 · $0.00
The Indian Council in the Valley of the Walla-Walla, 1855Lawrence Kip1h 28m$1 · $0.00
Mountain life in AlgeriaEdgar Barclay1h 56m$2 · $0.00
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels (Vol. 1-18) (Annotated)Robert Kerr410h 26m4.2 (28)$2 · $0.00
Korea and Her Neighbors (Summarized Edition)Isabella L. Bird4h 17m$2
An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon in the East IndiesRobert Knox13h 44m4.2 (84)$1 · $0.00
Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America (Vol.1-3) (Annotated)Alexander von Humboldt, Aimé Bonpland65h 3m4.5 (12)$0.99 · $0.00
The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, 985-1503Various15h 29m3.9 (39)$1 · $0.00
The Abenaki IndiansFrederic Kidder50m$1 · $0.00
The Settlement of Illinois, 1778-1830Arthur Clinton Boggess8h 48m$2 · $0.00
Himalayan Journals — Complete (Annotated)Joseph Dalton Hooker23h 13m4.0 (93)$2 · $0.00
Life in Mexico (Annotated)Madame Calderón de la Barca22h 30m4.0 (161)$2 · $0.00
The Story of the Counties of OntarioEmily Poynton Weaver10h 58m$2 · $0.00
The Naturalist in NicaraguaThomas Belt13h 20m4.0 (168)$1 · $0.00
America (Vol. 1-6) (Annotated)Joel Cook40h 26m$0.99 · $0.00