‘The Louisiana Purchase’ details the forefront of a mighty empire

In this semiquincentennial year, 1776 is on many Americans’ minds. But in The Louisiana Purchase: The Grand Bargain and the Making of America, Louisiana State University Shreveport professor Alexander Mikaberidze turns our attention to another epochal year in the early republic: 1803. He gives a thorough and engaging account of the fateful transaction that doubled…