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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Stephen Ambrose painted an honest portrait of George A. Custer and Crazy Horse, descriptions of both their faults and strengths though a timeline that spans each beginning leading up to their fateful meeting at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
Good biographies of both Crazy Horse and Custer, and all their history. Tries a bit too much to rationalize and justify the behaviour of the US government and Army, and make excuses for breaking all the treaties and forcing the natives off their homelands by slaughtering millions of buffalo so miners could get to gold..
A simply wonderful book about two of the most intriguing men in our history, Custer and Crazy Horse. Ambrose writes, in alternating chapters, about the lives of these two men and then merges the two with the climax at Little Bighorn at the end of the book. I was fascinated by the depth of details that Ambrose shared. The book is well researched and written so accessibly that it was a joy to read. Highly recommend this book!
informative
sad
medium-paced
Very old fashioned, as it was published in the 70s. Lots of outdated language. But very readable and compelling.
“Whatever may be the right or wrong of the question ... the Indian must be dispossessed. The practical question to be considered is how the inevitable can be accomplished with the least inhumanity to the Indian.”
This book was written like a story. The characters were larger than life. It was engaging, funny, tragic, and mystifying. I highly recommend it.
This book was written like a story. The characters were larger than life. It was engaging, funny, tragic, and mystifying. I highly recommend it.
adventurous
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.75 ⭐
I wasn't sure I would finish this one but it kept being interesting and I kept going. I knew embarrassingly little about this very famous conflict. The author gives a lot of moral analysis of the events. Typically I like a history to give me the details and let me form my own conclusions but this instance was okay and very thoughtful.
I wasn't sure I would finish this one but it kept being interesting and I kept going. I knew embarrassingly little about this very famous conflict. The author gives a lot of moral analysis of the events. Typically I like a history to give me the details and let me form my own conclusions but this instance was okay and very thoughtful.
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Fascinating and absorbing. Crazy Horse is maybe one of the few true American heroes of the nineteenth century; Custer seems far less admirable. Although I suppose Crazy Horse would not have wanted to be labeled “American.” This was originally published in 1975, but for the most part it seems balanced. Ambrose does occasionally defend the indefensible actions of various US officials by resorting to a thinly veiled version of the “if they hadn’t acted as they did, you wouldn’t be reading this now,” which is maddening, but it doesn’t happen often. For the most part it felt fair, and certainly by the end I was far more impressed with Crazy Horse than any of the white men involved. I knew the general outline of the story, but none of the details, so there were plenty of surprises along the way.
Very well researched dual biography of George Armstrong Custer and Sioux leader Crazy Horse.