S. C. Gwynne

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Camanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S. C. Gwynne wasn't what I expected when I bought it though I'm not sure what I expected. Gwynne appears to try to tell the history fairly, but how fair can a story be when the documentation of the other side is often biased and the documentation on the other side is scarce? Gwynne certainly pulled me into this well written story with visceral details about show more the interactions between the Comanches and the settlers as well as the landscape. He has no qualms talking about the settlers taking the land, but like so many books written by oppressors seems to marvel that people will kill to keep the land they've inhabited for generations and will reject invaders telling them how to live their lives. Empire of the Summer Moon paints a picture that feeds into stereotypes about Indigenous Peoples and relies heavily on documentation by the "white man" while excusing this by saying the Comanches didn't keep records. Having read An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States before reading Empire of the Summer Moon, I couldn't help but notice how differently the books presented the histories of the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and the Europeans who "settled" the United States. Still, I found Empire of the Summer Moon engaging, informative, and interesting as well as bold and graphic. show less

This excellent narrative will leave the reader flush with new knowledge and massive sorrow, and, in my case, a thirst for knowledge about the varied Native American tribes and their natures and histories. The writing is so vivid that I truly felt I could view the minds of the horse Indians and the troops that pursued them relentlessly until they came down from the Plains and into ruin. Quanah Parker's life is exemplary and fascinating, but so is the complete change of lifestyle forced on the show more entire Comanche Nation (not that there really was one - the various bands were too independent, but all suffered the same dismal fate) by striving settlers and satanically greedy buffalo hunters. It's like being invited to join the most knowledgeable raconteur on the subject when he's lazing around the campfire in a gregarious mood - just a complete pleasure to read and an overwhelming tragedy to behold. show less

S. C. Gwynne's account of R101 in His Majesty's Airship certainly disabused me of my fantasy of leisurely crossing continents and oceans in the quiet, luxurious, spacious gondola of a dirigible (or zeppelin, if one prefers). Judging by the histories of such lighter-than-air machines as narrated by Gwynne, they were, by and large, barely controllable death traps.

In the early decades of the 20th century, a debate raged as to whether the newfangled aeroplanes (heavier than air) or dirigibles show more (lighter than air) were the future of aviation. Factor in hubris, national pride, effective public relations, and strong personalities of influential officials, and we find both popular and governmental support for dirigibles even though their track record was, at best, spotty and getting worse as time (and accidents) went on.

In his book, Gwynne looks not only at the technology of dirigible design but also at the personalities of the men involved with them. His narrative method is to alternate chapters dealing with the machines themselves with descriptions of the people behind them, a technique that may annoy readers looking for nothing more than exciting descriptions of crashes, fires, and deaths, but which does much to explain why funding and effort continued to be directed to the use of dirigibles despite their propensity to burn and to crash.

Gwynne is rather good at explaining, either in the text or in footnotes, terminology and details with which a reader may not be familiar. However he missed a couple of topics that bedeviled me throughout the book and that I had to research elsewhere. First of these was the meaning of the airship's designation of R101 (and the other R-class dirigibles that he addresses). I have come to believe that the R indicates a rigid airship, i.e., a dirigible with a solid frame as contrasted with a blimp. I would have expected the author to have explained that early in his book, but I could find no mention of it. The other topic that bothered me throughout the book was the name Dixmude, another dirigible to which we are introduced by the author. An internet search on the name reveals that it is the French spelling of the Belgian town of Diksmuide and that the airship was renamed in honor of the French marines who had died in defense of the town in 1914. To me, that would have been perfect information to have been included in a footnote when the airship was first mentioned.

I did find Gwynne's narrative style to make for enjoyable reading, and I appreciate the pages he devoted to the design, construction, and operational demands of rigid airships. His book has left me with a much clearer understanding of this chapter in the development of air travel. The information he imparts is hardly limited to airship R101, the title of the book notwithstanding, and, for me, that enhances the value of His Majesty's Airship. Those who are interested in early 20th century aviation history, including the debate between lighter-than-air versus heavier-than-air craft should find this book both interesting and informative. There may also be a lesson here as to the results that accrue when personal influence trumps observable fact in the decision-making process, which extends the value of this book well beyond aviation history into all facets of leadership. show less

For those of you who were doubtful that I would ever finish Empire of the Summer Moon, you can relax, it's in the bag. I gave it 4.5 stars and already I am thinking that maybe I need to bump that up because very few books have ever had me rereading the chapters before I have finished with the book. It is very well done and filled with so many amazing facts. It is not just about Quanah Parker or the rise and fall of the Comanche Nation, it is about how the Texas Rangers got their start, about show more the evolution of the Colt revolver, about how we are doomed to repeat the past over and over again if we cannot learn from it. Originally, I had this book out from the library, but it became more than a book for me; it became a journey. It would not let me read it quickly or take it lightly; it has depths that beg to be explored and passages that cry out to be pondered. I ended up buying the ebook version because then I could also buy the audiobook for just a few dollars more, and this, for me, became the perfect way to explore this book.

"Few historians would argue that the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which a defeated Mexican republic signed on February 2, 1848, in the wake of the lopsided war, was as momentous an event in American history as the signing, seventeen years later, of the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. Yet in its own way it was quite as definitive. Appomattox stitched the nation back together....But Guadalupe Hidalgo created the physical nation itself. Before the treaty the American West consisted of the old Louisiana Purchase lands that rose in ladderlike fashion from the mouth of the Mississippi, climbed the courses of the Missouri, and touched the rocky, fog-shrouded shores of the Northwest. It was a tentative, partial fulfillment of the national myth. Guadalupe Hidalgo, in which Mexico gave up its claims north of the Rio Grande, made the dream suddenly, and completely, real. It added the old Spanish lands that lay, enormous and sun-drenched, athwart the Southwest. They included the modern states of Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, California, and Nevada. There was Texas, too, in a sense, though it had been subsumed in 1845. U.S. annexation of Texas was what the war with Mexico was about, and the American victory settled the question forever. In all, the United States of America acquired 1.2 million square miles of real estate, an instant 66 percent increase in its total landmass. In the terms of land gained, on a percentage basis, it was as though France had acquired Germany. Thus was the nation entirely recast. Its singularity of purpose, its raw and conquistador-like desires to possess and dominate all lands it touched and to dispossess or destroy all of its aboriginal peoples, its burgeoning will to power could now stretch, untrammeled, from sea to shining sea. It was manifest destiny made manifest."

I chose the above passage to represent the book because it speaks to everything that amazed me about the narrative of this incredible piece of nonfiction. It is beautifully and eloquently written. It takes what could be confusing and dry sets of statistics and makes them accessible and interesting. It sets the story that it tells firmly within parameters that are well defined and clearly explained. And it gives you the big picture while also delivering the smaller ones that make the story stunning and personal. It is a book worthy of your time if you are at all interested in the subject matter. show less