Oklahoma Books

Walter Camp had the great fortune and drive to visit the critical sites of the old west and seek out and interview actual participants and witnesses. Unfortunately, Camp did not survive to put his great efforts into a book but Hammer does the next best thing possible by organizing Camp's would be book and providing editorial commentary to fill in the gaps. Hammer collects Camp's material on the Little Bighorn and every page is full of interesting information. My favorite parts of the book are references to participants other than the main characters such as Peter Thompson and other members of Custer's separate battalion that survived because their horses broke down prior to the descent into Medicine trail Coulee. Hammer does an excellent job of providing clarification of the participants or writings of Camp in the footnotes so that you almost have all your questions answered by Hammer. A delightful book without harsh judgment offered by Camp and a great collection of readable material. It must have been frustrating to have first person interviews with participants when their stories clashed, were foggy or perhaps grandiose such as Thompson's alleged view of the valley as Custer descended to the river. Camp not only interviewed troopers but also Custer's scouts and Sioux and Cheyenne participants. Camp did a lot not to just record history but to locate historical sites in the remote West like Slim Buttes that without his timely intervention may have otherwise been lost to history. The only unfortunate aspect of the book is that there isn't more material and that Camp's health failed before he could draw his own conclusions. He also had the greatest vacation hobby, exploring and researching the old west before it was very old.

This book is used by most serious LBH writers and researchers as a very valuable reference. Just check the bibliographies of the most respected and thorough histories of the battle, and you will find Walter Camp's notes there. Reason enough that this book be on your shelf if you're a Custer/LBH buff. There is a wealth of information in these pages, especially the footnotes (which are often lengthy). Too bad Walter Camp died before he had a chance to put all his research together in his planned book. There are interviews with officers, enlisted men, white and Indian Army scouts and the Sioux/Cheyenne themselves. There are so many it becomes hard to keep them separate in one's mind, but that's a good thing.

His summation at the end tends to place him in the "Custer crowd" in that he did not feel Custer disobeyed Terry's orders, and that Custer acted appropriately with the information available to him at the time, although he does feel Custer fragmented his forces too much before the battle. One has to give his opinion great weight because he talked firsthand to more of the survivors of the LBH than anyone else.

Walter Camp was a railroad engineer most of his life, but as a hobby he enjoyed studying the various Indian fights that had occurred in the West, especially the Custer battle at the Little Big Horn. He visited the site numerous times and, more importantly, conducted scores of interviews with eyewitness participants, Indian and white. He kept files of his findings and after his death these files found their way into various libraries around the country. Kenneth Hammer here compiles the "notes" Camp left regarding the Custer fight. They represent, along with W.A. Graham's documented source book of letters, newspaper clippings, legal documents, and numerous other Little Big Horn memorabilia (THE CUSTER MYTH), the most important wellspring of information regarding the June 25, 1876, disaster. The information culled from the interviews with Curly, the Crow scout who was the last to see Custer alive and live to tell about it, are particularly informative in reconstructing what happened that day. He eventually interviewed over 60 survivors between 1908 and 1919. All serious books about the Little Big Horn fight will have to acknowledge the work done by Camp, and anyone with more than just a passing interest in the battle will want this book.

I read Mr. Camp's classic account of the Little Big Horn several years ago. It remains on my shelf as one of the very best books on the battle. It was well written, detailed and colorful enough for any follower of the Custer's trail. I highly recommend this book, which I read just prior to visiting the Custer battlefield on the 106th anniversary. Not to be overlooked or missed.

One of my all-time Custer reference books. This one is referenced and quoted in almost all other books on Custer. So, it must be good. Recommended for anyone researching Custer.

With its oversize, ample illustrations, this book serves as the pictorial version (or "movie") version of Utley's classic CAVALIER IN BUCKSKIN that came out in the late 1980s as part of a western biographical series produced by the University of Oklahoma Press. As such, its coverage of the Civil War Custer is somewhat limited but readers can find a more than ample exploration of the Civil War Custer in Jeffrey Wert's fine 1996 Custer biography. As for this edition of Cavalier, a slight revision occurs in the battle section and reflects the influence of Larry Skelenar on Mr. Utley's thinking.

For me personally, it was especially gratifying to have purchased my copy at the Little Bighorn battlefield on June 25, 2001 on the 125th anniversary of the battle. Mr. Utley was there himself, selling and signing this fine coffee table book, with Last Stand Hill as the perfect backdrop. What a great day! What a great book!

The earlier paperback edition of Cavalier was the first book I read about Custer. At the time I was expecting Utley to take a strong stand as to whether Custer was a brilliant Indian-fighting hero, or an egomaniacal upstart. So I found the objective style and even-handed treatment a little disappointing. However, several years and books later, I have come to see this as the best book on Custer and LBH ever written, mainly because of his refusal to approach the subject with the pre-conceived notions others have.

Utley neither lauds Custer, nor does he cast blame. He makes it clear that Custer may have been somewhat over-rated in his Indian fighting abilities. Though he allows that he had gained a lot of knowledge of Plains warfare and might have become equal to the likes of Miles or Crook, had he lived. He points out that Custer did ignore the scouts who told him of the great number of warriors present in the camp on LBH. However, he also notes that Custer was not unlike other military leaders of the time in under estimating the fighting abilities of Indians, and therefore did not think that numbers really mattered. While he feels that Reno and Benteen did not support Custer as they could have, he also feels that not enough credit is given to the idea that the Indians merely outfought them all.

Of course, this was all included in the earlier editions. So the obvious question is, do you need to read the revised edition. This depends on what you're looking for.

With a few small exceptions the text remains the same. Utley has made a few changes based on later research, especially work by Larry Sklenar, but his overall theories have not changed. Also, for those interested in further reading, he has augmented his list of sources.

The main difference in the editions is physical. This is definitely "over-sized," fitted better to a coffee table than a bookshelf. And it is filled with illustrations, many of which seem to have been chosen more to improve the lay-out than for their applicability to the text. Take for example the photo of a Buffalo Soldier with the caption, "Custer disapproved of black soldiers...." (p.45) Or the photo of modern-day cadets at West Point captioned, "Cadet Custer had 726 demerits...."(p.22) And, of course, there are more portraits of Custer and renditions of LBH than one would ever dream existed.

My suggestion would be that, if you're a collector of Custeriana, or simply the type who likes to impress your guests with your choice of books, you might want to purchase this and place it somewhere prominent in your home. Otherwise you'd do just as well to stick with the paperback version.

The master of the western biography has written (and added to the original version) a balanced reporting of the events that happened that day in June. The oversize pages allow for splendid photographic illustrations. All the versions as to what actually took place are presented thoughtfully and a case presented for the most logical conclusion. I had read his later book(s) including "The Lance and the Shield" about Sitting Bull, before discovering this one. It was also very interesting to find out what happened later to some of the people involved.

Well written and entertaining biography of one-time(late 19th century) El Paso Marshall Dallas Stoudenmire. Metz does a nice job of fleshing out just who Stoudenmire was, and the mammoth job responsibilities he faced, as well, as the numerous contraversies surrounding the man. It is a thrilling tale of a gun-slinger of the "old west", who is really lost to history. A virtual unknown compared to Hickock, Earp, Masterson, etc... Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the history of the 19th century west, history of gunfighters of the same era, or Texas or frontier history. Fun, informative, and worth your time.

lots of new information. Very well written and researched. very entertaining.

This book was well written and easy to understand. Mr. Metz has managed to make this book easy to understand and fun to read, but with much interest. His wordings were excellent; he used adjectives and even described persons or things with vivid colors. He has added some humors to it and it always kept my full attention.

The "4 Deads in 5 seconds" gunfight was the most thrilling. I felt as if I actually witnessed it all and witnessed folks scattered at the very sight of Marshal.

Hollywood should make a movie on Marshal Stoudenmire. I think he's worthy a movie such as it is for Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday in "Tombstone" and "Wyatt Earp".

Leon C. Metz was a great author and storyteller with unique writing humor. This book was based on true events. It was well researched and written. I have absolutely no doubts that Mr. Metz attempts to bring out favorable traits of Stoudenmire in order to help him gain much deserved respect and nationwide recognition. Stoudenmire enforced the laws no differently than Wyatt Earp, Pat Garrett and Elfego Baca. Stoudenmire deserves the same honor. Stoudenmire's period in this town was awfully short, but very colorful. Stoudenmire had no fear, not even guns or death. He was able to outdraw every opponent. He sent his wild bullets to harvest souls and sent men on their last jolting rides to the cemetery. His large structure and deadly reputation were all El Paso needed to send hard-cored violent outlaws whining and putting their tails between their shaking legs into hiding or digging their own graves. Stoudenmire's toughness and courage was no match for the outlaws combined together.

. . .

This book is highly recommended for folks who seek excitement in Wild West justice and a wild marshal to match!

I have several guides for birds, butterflies, snakes, reptiles and amphibians. I just started learn about dragonflies this year and this is one of the best guides I have seen. In fact, it was highly recommended by an individual who has a Masters Degree in dragonfly study. I recommend it for individuals just starting out with dragonflies as the photos are great but it also provides enough information (range maps) to let you narrow down and identify the more difficult species.

This field guide is the one to own. It covers not only all the dragonflies of Texas and the Southcentral US, but all the damselflies as well. The photographs are superb and this make for easy identification of species in the field. However, because of these pluses, the result is a rather sizable guide that is just a bit too heavy to really qualify as a handy field guide. If you can deal with its size and weight, it more than makes up for this handicap in thes helpful information it provides. The only drawback and the reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, is because it is a tad less user friendly for the novice or non-professional (i.e. The species identification keys are a bit confusing). Nevertheless, it is destined to become the standard to measure all other guides.

As an admirer of dragonflies and damselflies I was quite delighted to find this book by John C. Abbott. It is a mix of the very technical and (at least in part because of the 64 plates of magnificent color photos) the very useful for the non-specialist. The range maps are invaluable as a way of adding clues for the identification of similar species. The line drawings of anatomical parts are important in separating closely related species and the glossary of terms, the check list, and the large bibliography round out a very useful or even indispensable volume for the dragonfly watcher. In short, this book is a serious guide to an area with the highest odonate diversity in the United States. "Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-Central United States" simply is a must for anyone interested in the odonate fauna of the five states involved. Its production, along with at least three earlier regional and national books on the subject, is a testimonial to the growing popularity of these beautiful and fascinating insects.

This is not a book that you can skim; rather, it is one intended for the serious student of Odonata in Texas. Written by an acknowledged expert in the field, it covers everything you might want to know about the dragonflies found in Texas.

Be warned, though, that you cannot approach this book lightly. The author uses scientific terms liberally: you will have to spend time acquiring the vocabulary.

For the serious Texas "Odo-nut" this is an absolutely essential part of your library.

this is a great book, it is very interesting and seems to be fairly accurate to what might have happened in the life just after the land run.

This story is sooo close to fact one feels like they are part of the land run.

Hard to believe the same guy who wrote "Empire" wrote "Dreams to Dust" what a vast improvement on story telling. Dreams to Dust is a great historical fiction that centers around the founding of Guthrie Station, OK. The characters are diverse and well developed. This was a fun book to read.

DREAMS TO DUST
A tale of the Oklahoma Land Rush
By Sheldon Russell
University of Oklahoma Press: Norman
ISBN 0-8061-3721-5
Copyright 2006 by University of Oklahoma Press

BOOK REVIEW BY CAROLYN BRANCH LEONARD 2/10/2006

Standing at the foot of Mavis's grave, Jerome held his hat in his hands.
"You danced your dance," he whispered, "and left your memory burned in my soul. Now, I will dance mine, and leave my mark upon this land."

This quote from Dreams to Dust, by Sheldon Russell, represents the author's profound understanding of the birth of Oklahoma by land run in 1889, and his brilliant gift for capturing the dramatic events and violent conflict that shaped the legends of our epic West. Dreams to Dust is a rip-roaring tale of the history, land and people of a city born grown in one day - a day of chaos, unique adventure, risk and total confusion. The author knows his subject well, researched it thoroughly and told his story faithfully in a writing style unique to him ...and what an exciting story he has to tell. Dreams to Dust presents many facts revealed in fictional format, such as the station that becomes Guthrie - the first state capitol, abandoned as result of one frontier newspaperman's greed, with the capitol seal stolen away in the dark of night.

Not since James Michener's Centennial has history been told in such a spellbinding way. From the opening line when Creed McReynolds locks his legs against the inside of a rail car, I felt relentlessly carried along on his journey and unable to get off the train until turning the final pages in the wee small hours of morning.

McReynolds, half-breed son of a U.S. Cavalry doctor, becomes just one of an assortment of powerful, unforgettable characters; like the girl with sapphire eyes, or the French architect who designed beautiful buildings of stone, the dog they called Flea Bag, hard-scrabble entrepreneurs who became tycoons, and an orphan boy forced to grow up too soon.

The author speaks in language of the time, through the voices of homesteaders, sooners, cowboys, claim jumpers, soldiers, railroad bulls, mail-order wives, opportunists and common thieves, steadfast men, women and children who come to build their homes and seek their fortunes on former Indian lands. The three million acres of the `89ers are outside the authority of Indian government, and without civil law. Nothing is spared: danger, brutality, hunger, sudden death, the loss of youth and innocence, prejudice, natural disasters, promiscuous women, even the unselfish friendship and love that McReynolds unexpectedly finds in this barren land.

But what comes through strongest is the idea that each man and woman has an innate dream to possess land and prosper on it; a compulsion capable of redeeming a soul or destroying a life. We are subtly reminded that this land - which McReynolds fights so hard to claim - originally was given in peace treaties to his mother's people by the US government.

Even the closing graphs present a ripping good read with a hint of Hemingway:
"As he climbed from the meadow, the air smelled scrubbed and clean, and a soft breeze blew through the trees. At the dugout he stopped, laying his hand on the door, listening to the sounds of the mountain. It was here that he and Alida had been the happiest, had built traps and laughed about hoopers, had made love and planned their future."

.....But no matter what the future held, this much he knew: this land was where he belonged; this land was where he'd stay.

This is a great reference book if you are a Militaria collector.

This book would primarily appeal to collectors. It is extensive in its coverage of the history of insignias and it also is liberally illustrated. A definite must have for the collector.

I have been acquainted with the author for many years so when I heard this work was to be published I looked forward to acquiring it.
As I was scheduled to retire in January 1998, I went to the planners of my party and told them rather than perhaps giving me an inappropriate, useless or redundant gift (After all I have been collecting books for forty five years.) I would like a gift certificate from a book store. Well, I got enough to get this and a fine thing it is too.
Every place I looked where I knew somthing about the subject, especially the post Korea-pre Vietnam Cold War when I served, I had no quarrel with what Bill said. So you can depend on the nineteenth century material which is just as well researched.
This book is much improved by not just being a catalog of insignia but identifies the clothing upon which it was worn, thus facilitating its use for identification.
Every major research library should have this in its collection along with his other mighty work Chevrons.

As an avid collector of US Army cloth insignia from WWI to modern day,I had failed to do any research on branch insignia preferring the more colourful shoulder sleeve insignia.However as with all collecting one finds themselves the need for more information on all types of insignia worn on the uniform.This masterpiece of work fills this for all collectors of US Army insignia.This is a must have and an indispencible tool for the serious collector/historian.I personally rank William K Emerson's book along side that of Shelby L Stanton's order's of battle books for the amount of time, energy and finally the monumentous task of gathering and putting all this information together in one single volume. To this I must add the name of J Duncan Campbell listed in the preface.

Readers purpose for examining the material was a search for more information into Egyptian use of Fibonacci sequences, specifically whether they used 1st. or 2nd. order, since it is known that the Italian was not the first. Readers questions in this regard were answered although not directly.Author of book makes case why astronomy did not evolve from astrology. Although author is not math intensive, author has incredible insight into the human subconsciousness role and direction into math as used by these early peoples. Reader was able to re-work, from the Astronomy section of MathCad, the base 60 calculator used by the Babylonians, (one was also constructed for the Eygptians in their base but is not nearly as interesting) and reflects how clearly the author had submitted the interpretations for the reader to follow. This book is gem.

The Babylonians were good guys. They had a sophisticated, table-based system of arithmetic, they could solve quadratic equations, etc. For all this we respect them, but for Plimpton 322 we love them--surely only true connoisseurs of numbers would produce a table of Pythagorean triples. The Egyptians on the other hand disappoint us. Their arithmetic "is probably best described as a retarding force" and their astronomy "remained through all its history on an exceedingly crude level" (p. 80). To be fair, their simple-mindedness did lead them to one great creation, namely "the only intelligent calendar which ever existed in human history", to be contrasted with e.g. "the chaotic Greek calendars, depending not only on the moon but also on local politics for its intercalations" (p. 81). Neugebauer's favourite topic is Babylonian astronomy. "The very backbone of Babylonian mathematical astronomy" (p. 102) is period relations, like 235 lunar months = 19 solar years. From here they build up a quite sophisticated, purely arithmetical system "excellently adapted to practical computation and to predicting new moons, eclipses, etc." (p. 114). "At no point of this theory are the traces of a specific geometrical model visible" (p. 110), so the Babylonian theory is completely different from the Ptolemaic theory. "Nevertheless, Babylonian influence is visible in two different ways in Greek astronomy: first, in contributing the basic empirical material ... second, in a direct continuation of arithmetical methods which were used simultaneously with and independently of the geometrical methods" (p. 156); apparently even the Greeks didn't want to pull out their trig tables for every little thing. Throughout the book there are also notes on various aspects of historical scholarship, including delightfully subjective remarks like "The much publicized 'progress' in the study of the history of science is difficult to reconcile with the shocking neglect of a great wealth of source material ... What we really need is not bibliographies and summaries, but competent publications of Islamic, Greek, and Latin treatises" (p. 55).

An `old fashioned' text where the notes are as important as the body. The `Method' is the `As it really was' school. The author was a German mathematician who was drawn to Mesopotamian mathematics and astronomy early in the 20th century. Where used Greek or Latin is translated. The more modern European languages of French and especially German are extensively referred to in the notes but NOT in the body.

The book is much more `Eurocentric' than is `politically correct' these days. By example the `zero symbol' is attributed to Greece, thence to Egypt then to the Orient. Others disagree. This author presents data, lists and writings from the original sources ... he has received `lifetime awards' form mathematical societies but the popular press has called other authors on zero, "ball buster's"

This book is a very deep investigation of the topic of the title. While not a `page turner' for most if one relishes tidbits of fascinating information on numbers, antique maths, astronomical methods and spends the time to read the notes as well as the text when they finish this book they will have a good grip of the breadth of Mesopotamian knowledge of these subjects.

This book explains the level of learning and advance of knowledge that was aquired by the ancient cultures in Bablyon, Sumer, and Egypt.

It gives a good overview of the mathematics, and astronomy that was aquired in these cultures, and the progression of this to the more modern Greek and Roman cultures.

This inordinately ambitious, often overreaching & self-contradictory, but nonetheless thought-provoking book takes as it's central thesis the following: "The dominant themes of the Frontier Myth are those that center on the conception of American history as a heroic-scale Indian war, pitting race against race; and the central concern of the mythmakers is with the problem of reaching the 'end of the Frontier'. Both of these themes are brought together in the "Last Stand" legend, which is the central fable of the industrial or 'revised' Myth of the Frontier." Slotkin proceeds to trace the impact and the changing understanding of the Frontier Myth from King Phillip's War to 1890, when Frederick Jackson Turner declared the Frontier closed. He maintains that over this period of time the hero of the myth evolved from an agrarian/frontiersman/hunter to a soldier-aristocrat, because that was what industrial capitalism required.

Of course, this thesis begs several questions: Does Custer as culmination of the myth of the industrial captain make any sense? He was, after all, suckered and slaughtered by a pack of illiterate barbarians, are we to believe that the overlords of Capitalism wanted to be seen as incompetent fops? Also, why does Sitting Bull emerge as an American legend too? Shouldn't we expect him to be remembered as some kind of monster, rather than as a noble savage?

The reason that Slotkin can not, or does not, answer these questions, is because his book is a work of ideology as much as of history. He wanted to vilify Capitalism and 19th century robber barons and so, he finds primary sources to support his view. But does the fact that a few novels or newspapers treated the Last stand in the manner that he hoped they had actually prove anything? How do we know what kind of influence these contemporary writings had & did they really outweigh the opposing presentations in other periodicals and novels? And what explains the image that comes down to us in films like She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, where Custer is portrayed as a blindly obstinate fanatic, largely responsible for his own death? Had Capitalism lost the need for it's own myths? It hardly seems likely.

In the end, Slotkin's book should be read for the panoramic sweep it offers of Frontier history and for the provocative, albeit inaccurate, theories that it offers up. His arguments are well worth wrestling with & refuting.

GRADE: B-

Richard Slotkin was educated in the New York City public schools and has a Ph.D.in American Civilization from Brown University (1967).

The essence of Slotkin's theory is that myths, stories drawn from history, are preserved in their narrative and become part of the language, as a deeply encoded set of metaphors that contain all of the lessons we have learned from our history, and all of the essential elements of our world view.

Slotkin's intention is to trace the historical development of a single major American myth, "Custer's Last Stand", and offer a critical interpretation of its meaning. The reader will judge the significance of this single myth, not simply by noting its recurrence and persistence, but by the waxing and waning of its hold on the marketplace in relation to other genres expressive of other myths. The focus of his study is myth as a set of narrative formulas that acquire, through specific historical action, a significant ideological change. To explain,a world defined by myth produces discontent. Ideology, however offsets this by generating a new narrative, or myth, that will account for and give value to reality. This creates the basis for a new cultural consensus or world view.

A good illustration of Slotkin's thesis is his chapter on regeneration through violence in the history of the Indian War 1675-1820. He focuses on the common elements of the literary mythology of Indian dispossession and the violent wars of conquest. The colonists acquired title to lands through this conquest and engaged in expansion. This is the system of belief that veiled the processes of economic development as a model for the rationalization of class subordination at home and imperialism abroad. This course reflects the social reality that the myth ideology of the Frontier was developed to conceal the processes of economic development.

You may never read a history book or enjoy an American historical novel again without testing Slotkin's "myth theory" for yourself. I was fascinated by the inevitable truth of Slotkin's theory, placed my "critical view-finders" aside, and simply enjoyed my reading discoveries.

I recommend this book as an enlightened examination of American perceptions, beliefs, stereotypes, and political policies.

Richard Slotkin was educated in the New York City public schools and has a Ph.D.in American Civilization from Brown University (1967).

The essence of Slotkins' theory is that myths, stories drawn from history, are preserved in their narrative and become part of the language, as a deeply encoded set of metaphors that contain all of the lessons we have learned from our history, and all of the essential elements of our world view.

Slotkin's intention is to trace the historical development of a single major American myth, "Custer's Last Stand", and offer a critical interpretation of its meaning. The reader will judge the significance of this single myth, not simply by noting its recurrence and persistence, but by the waxing and waning of its hold on the marketplace in relation to other genres expressive of other myths. The focus of his study is myth as a set of narrative formulas that acquire, through specific historical action, a significant ideological change. To explain,a world defined by myth produces discontent. Ideology, however offsets this by generating a new narrative, or myth, that will account for and give value to reality. This creates the basis for a new cultural consensus or world view.

A good illustration of Slotkin's thesis is his chapter on regeneration through violence in the history of the Indian War 1675-1820. He focuses on the common elements of the literary mythology of Indian dispossession and the violent wars of conquest. The colonists acquired title to lands through this conquest and engaged in expansion. This is the system of belief that veiled the processes of economic development as a model for the rationalization of class subordination at home and imperialism abroad. This course reflects the social reality that the myth ideology of the Frontier was developed to conceal the processes of economic development.

You may never read a history book or enjoy an American historical novel again without testing Slotkin's "myth theory" for yourself. I was fascinated by the inevitable truth of Slotkin's theory, placed my "critical view-finders" aside, to simply enjoy my reading discoveries. I recommend this book as an enlightened examination of American perceptions, beliefs, stereotypes, and political policies.

The professional editorials above do a fairly good job in summarizing the gist of this monumental work. What I want to draw attention towards is the absolute yeoman work Slotkin did in researching this the middle act of his trilogy. For example, pouring through miles of newspapers he makes startling observations of how editors placed their stories about Indian uprisings and unrest in the factories from non Anglo-Saxon workers in psychological and proximal juxtaposition in the many newspapers of the day. A mythos was created that was passed on to the subsequent generations of Americans. This mythos (which, I feel, as cultural learned behavior partly fuels all modern racism)is evidently examined further in the third book of the series, "Gunfighter Nation." I will be reading this next work soon. The myth and role of the "culture hero" such as Custer is also very interesting and could well serve as a case study for the psychological and anthropological needs constructs that people have for heroes as examined by Ernest Becker's Pulitzer Prize winning book "The Denial of Death." The book is sometimes hard going but is well worth it. It might also be very profitable to read Slotkins's first book of this trilogy, "Regeneration Through Violence" which covers the colonial period.

General George H. Thomas was a Southern born Union officer who commanded the outstanding Army of the Cumberland and he was one of the great generals of the American Civil War. In military circles he will forever be known as "The Rock of Chickamauga". However today, for a number of reasons, he is relatively unknown to the American public.

Any author writing a biography of George Thomas is faced with a major hurdle in that most of Thomas' private papers were burned at his request when he died, and the fact that he died suddenly of a stoke soon after the Civil War which left no chance for a memoir. The author addressed these problems by relentlessly researching every collection of Thomas Papers available and reviewing as many private letters that he could. Other authors may have done this also, and used them to influence their writing, but Mr. Christopher Einolf has done more. He quotes from the Thomas letters giving the reader a glimpse of the real Thomas.

The author uses an understated writing style that I think would have been appreciated by Thomas himself. He lets the facts speak for themselves in many cases and lets his readers draw their own conclusions. However he is not shy about sharing any new understanding of Thomas that he has reached. His description of how Thomas' attitude about blacks changed, from one of a conventional Virginia land owner to a real Civil Rights advocate and that this change came not so much as an evolutionary process but more of a `frame-break' moment after the Battle of Nashville when he saw for himself how well his black troops fought, gives us a new major insight into the man. This view came as a revelation for me as I never agreed with some early Thomas biographers who assumed Thomas had some innate goodness in him that would not allow him to treat blacks unequally. With his aristocratic Virginia upbringing, it did not make any sense. To me Mr. Einolf's analysis rings true.

The author's battle descriptions and analyses are very good with the notable exception of the Battle of Chattanooga. He basically subscribes to the standard `miracle theory' or to luck, as he has the soldiers saying, for the great success at Missionary Ridge. He states that `military historians' say the artillery was badly placed, and that the Union soldiers could scurry up the ravines unseen by enemy soldiers. This may be true, but the author misses the point that the prime factor in winning the battle was the effort of General Joseph Hooker and the fact that Thomas delayed his attack as long as he could to allow Hooker time to flank the ridge from Lookout Mountain. Confederate veterans on high ground and in good defensive positions would ordinarily not have been worried about any Federal charge, but with the added knowledge that a Union Corps was marching across their line of retreat, they decided it was time to skedaddle. That aside, the author's description of Stones River, Chickamauga, Nashville and the other battles is very good and his conclusions are astute.

Mr. Einolf's chapters on Thomas' post war actions and decisions during the occupation and the early reconstruction periods are given the detail they deserve. The author shows how Thomas had a unique perspective on the situation due to his being a Southern gentleman, a Unionist and knowing first hand the qualities of the black men who fought for their freedom. These two chapters really differentiate this book from other Thomas biographies.

In his concluding chapter entitled "Thomas in Historical Memory" Mr. Einolf goes into the reasons for loss of Thomas' place in history. This makes for very interesting reading especially in what he has to say about the Southern Historical Society. While I personally think he is too mild with regard to Generals U. S. Grant and William T. Sherman in their treatment of General Thomas during the war and later in their memoirs which contributed to the loss of George Thomas in history, Mr. Einolf's opinion on this matter has merit.

Overall this biography is excellent and a very creditable addition to the literature on the American Civil War.

Anyone who is mildly interested in history should read this biography. Mr. Einolf has thoroughly researched George Thomas and while providing an extensive account of his life, he has managed to create a work that is entertaining. Civil War buffs should enjoy this work as it shares an interesting and valid view of loyalties to fellow man and country.

In reading about the Civil War, I was intrigued by the story of Union General George Henry Thomas. How fortunate that Christopher J. Einolf recently published George Thomas: Virginian for the Union. This book does much to introduce 21st Century readers to this once famous general who has pretty much dropped off the radar screen.

The background of George Thomas is very similar to Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Coming from a prominent Virginia family, Thomas went to West Point, served in the Mexican and Indian Wars, and then taught at West Point. But unlike Lee, when the Civil War began, Thomas placed his oath to the Constitution above his loyalty to his family and his state and sided with the Union. He never saw his homestead or his sisters again.

While both armies had more than a few eccentric characters in key leadership positions (think Grant, Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, McClellan, J.E.B. Stuart, etc.), Thomas proved to be one of the most steady, consistent but understated generals during the Civil War. His friend and West Point roommate, William Tecumseh Sherman said of Thomas that "He was never brilliant, but always cool, reliable, and steady--maybe a little slow." After the war, Sherman praised Thomas as "the second-best general of the war, after Grant, and argued that Thomas was a better general even than Robert E. Lee."
His greatest successes were at the Battle of Chickamauga and the Battle of Nashville. His actions at Chickamauga helped to save the Union army from total annihilation and earned him the nickname, The Rock of Chickamauga. He finished the Civil War as the sixth highest ranking general in the Union army behind Grant, Sherman, Halleck, Mead and Sheridan.

While I found George Thomas: Virginian for the Union to be engrossing, it's very long on military information and short on personal facts. The reasons for this are the same reasons that Thomas is not very well known today. First, he had all his personal papers burned upon his death and he rarely spoke to his colleagues about his personal life. He never published his memoirs, unlike many of the key players from the war. He also was the first general to die after the war at the young age of 53 (in 1870). Three friends wrote biographies of Thomas after his death and respected his wish for privacy. This book doesn't even contain a photograph of his wife, Frances. Frances was also a very private person, and they had no children. While I would have preferred more personal information, I can't hold it against Einolf is very little is available to researchers.
But despite this shortcoming, George Thomas is still an excellent book and one that I would strongly recommend to others.

Volume 13 of the "Campaigns and Commanders" series, George Thomas: Virginian for the Union is the in-depth biography of one of the Union's most prominent and successful generals, who was at one time considered for overall command of the Union Army. Remembered today as the "Rock of Chickamauga", George H. Thomas was a slaveholding Southerner who chose to fight for the North, and his experience with the heroism of black soldiers on the battlefield forever changed his view of African-Americans, transforming him into a defender of civil rights. While George Thomas: Virginian for the Union makes a solid case for Thomas' integrity and competence, neither are Thomas' flaws and ill decisions neglected. Notes, a bibliography, and an index enhance this evenhanded appraisal of a truly remarkable commander.

I have read several books about the Sioux Wars so i wasnt really sure i wanted to read another one, but Mr Robinson's book is fantastic.He writes taking in consideration that the reader doesnt know anything about the topic so he explains with good accuracy terms and places like no other author. The author is bold and right on the money when it comes to point a finger at somebody, like for example the stupidity of the Army officers.I found that the interviews and research the author made for this book are very good, especially from the indians perspective.The only thing i didnt like is the fact that Mr Robinson doesnt go into details when it comes to Crazy Horse.I would have loved to read more about Crazy Horse part in this Wars.Otherwise this is an excelente book!

This is by far the best book on the Army's conflict with Native Americans since "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". It treats the material as a campaign rather than a series of seperate battles, so that Little Big Horn is treated as part of a whole. The author also describes the personalities and deeds of several Indian characters, not just Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. This is an eye-opening recounting of an important part of US history and a look at one of the greatest guerilla forces ever to wage war against the American Army.

Rather than concentrate on one battle or campaign, Robinson sets the stage for the reader to follow the movement of all the actors playing a role in the drama across the seasons of the war. I used this book as an orientation to the conflicts of 1876 prior to a trip to Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas to visit battle sites while on vacation. My trip was greatly enriched by reading this volume first. You can find more concentrated studies of particular engagements and the biographies of the participants that will offer deeper insights into the war, but for one overall narrative that provides the reader with the flavor of the contemporary army and Indian experience, here's my choice.

The depiction of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, especially that based on eye-witness accounts is riveting. It shows how different this battle was for the Lakota from the type of fighting they were used to, and what a feat it was for Crazy Horse to have pulled them together to fight in the manner of the white men, even if it was for one time only. The feeling I came away with was that Custet had learned the style in which indians fought, just in time for Crazy Horse to learn to fight like the Cavalry. Both were brilliant military minds.