On January 13, 1829, twenty eight-year-old Rudolph Gothard Sigvart Braëm left his native Denmark to embark upon an adventure to America. He chronicles the two years of his journey, painting vivid and colorful word pictures of the notable people he meets, his impressions of the American way of life, and his feelings about some of its conventions and institutions, including slavery.

"In the year 1829," he wrote, "I have seen more of our globe than in all my previous lifespan, and it has been one of the most extraordinary years of my experience."

Through his apt descriptions of his observations, Rudolph offers readers a retrospective look at a younger America.