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Loading... Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors (Meridian) (original 1975; edition 1986)by Stephen E. Ambrose
Work InformationCrazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen E. Ambrose (1975)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Military historian Ambrose examines the connections between the Indian chief and the cavalry officer. Typical Ambrose! Whatever your opinion about Custer, it won't change with this book. The text quantity seems to favor Custer, but there's not much written about Crazy Horse from that time, so most of Ambrose's statements are about typical Sioux life. Ambrose is particularly good about describing the intramural Indian conflict that likely put them where they are today....in addition to a technology gap,, .warring for glory and failure to follow leadership in a meaningful way. Custer's arrogance also comes out and at the academy, he epitomizes: "If the minimum weren't the minimum, it wouldn't be the minimum." Great gook comparing the two warriors and their cultures. Not much new in the Custer and Crazy Horse showdown. What I particularly like about Stephen Ambrose is his ability to give a sense of the contemporary time. In this particular case, Custer’s fame with the public based on his Civil War exploits, which ended up putting him back in charge of the Seventh Cavalry. Moving back and forth between events in their lives works out plot-wise for the inevitable conclusion. Although this book has been around for a long time, I had never read it until recently. Of course, anything written by Stephen Ambrose is top-notch, and this book is no exception. He uses the interesting approach of narrating the lives of these two leaders in parallel even though they never met until the end of Custer's life. Crazy Horse, of course, was also brutally killed within a year after Custer's death. no reviews | add a review
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On the sparkling morning of June 25, 1876, 611 men of the United States 7th Cavalry rode toward the banks of Little Bighorn in the Montana Territory, where three thousand Indians stood waiting for battle. The lives of two great warriors would soon be forever linked throughout history: Crazy Horse, leader of the Oglala Sioux, and General George Armstrong Custer. Both were men of aggression and supreme courage. Both became leaders in their societies at very early ages. Both were stripped of power, in disgrace, and worked to earn back the respect of their people. And to both of them, the unspoiled grandeur of the Great Plains of North America was an irresistible challenge. Their parallel lives would pave the way, in a manner unknown to either, for an inevitable clash between two nations fighting for possession of the open prairie. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)973.820922History and Geography North America United States 1865-1901 Ulysses GrantLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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The story doesn't speak well of the United States. First the Sioux are forced to sign away most of the Plains and stay in the Black Hills, and then when gold is found in the Black Hills, the US just abrogates the treaty and takes that too. Ugly.
I had a tough time with some things in the book- first of all, the maps are terrible- lightly drawn and confusing. For people like me who are unfamiliar with the geography of Montana and the mountain west, good maps would have really helped. And the book follows many Native American and White generals and leaders, which frankly gets quite confusing- the cast of characters is large. ( )