Hardcover. NY, Alfred A. Knopf, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket. The story of the Ill-fated Donner Party and the ordeal of being stuck in the Sierras through winter in the 1840's. The late author lived in the house once occupied by Patty Reed, the Donner party survivor whose family is the subject of the book.