Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable History for Everyone
Review: Ambrose's strength lies in his ability to make history approachable for almost everyone. While this is certainly not the most exhaustive book written about Crazy Horse, Custer, or Little Bighorn I would wager that it the most enjoyable. It's a great read, but those searching for the most minute details regarding the actors involved would be well advised to look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Thorough study, but not as good as his WWII books
Review: Among Stephen Ambrose's earlier work was this effort, a study of the Western history he enjoyed greatly. The lives of Custer and Crazy Horse are compared throughout the book, noting their seemingly parallel lives to reach the ultimate clash that was the Little Big Horn battle. Crazy Horse was a sharp contrast to the flamboyant Custer, and their ultimate fates were also impossible to predict in their early days.Throughout the book, the issues that shaped Western growth and expansion are addressed, as are their effects on the lives of these two men. There is a short section that follows the climactic battle, deatiling what happened after Little Big Horn for many of the people described in the book at one point or another. A reader expecting another book similar to one of his World War II efforts might be disappointed, but it should be remembered that Ambrose didn't have veterans to discuss experiences with- only records and long-dated transcripts. As such, this is a much more difficult book to write, which should be taken into consideration. However, the book is not as well-written as the World War II books, which obviously benefitted from earlier writing experiences such as this. Overall, the book will teach you a lot about the Western settlement and its effects, and especially about two famous Americans that inevitably will be linked for all of history.
Rating: 
Summary: An American Tragedy
Review: Historical writing doesn't get much better than this. In parallel chapters, Ambrose presents the story of these two warriors, from their births to their final tragic meeting at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Of course we know how the story ends, but it is still a fascinating study of these two great men, both fighting for what they believed in. What makes the tragedy even more profound is that we see so many places along the way where a different choice by one or the other of them could have resulted in a different outcome. If you want a good understand of the troubled relationships between whites and Indians at this time, this is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: East and West in the 1800's
Review: How much do you know about "Custer's last stand"? Crazy Horse?
Until I read this book recently, I had little in depth knowledge of either man. Stephen Ambrose is one of my favorite authors, and I want to read all his works. I finally settled down to read this American history book which is well researched, easy to read;, and thoroughly riveting throughout.
George Armstrong Custer - his life and service in the Civil War, and later in Indian wars as the west opened up to make way for trains, telegraph, and settlers - what a character he was. Crazy Horse, a courageous Indian who rebelled and took revenge on the white man, and the sad sad history of our government and the breaking of treaties with the native peoples. Also - names and habits of various Indian tribes and how they differed, what they ate, their habits and their attitudes toward the white man.
The author gives us a glimpse of what the American west looked liked when the Indians and buffalo were free. Every page is carefully written in a "fair and balanced" manner. I greatly enjoyed reading it from cover to cover and have a much better understanding of America and the westward expeditions in the 1800's.
Reading James Michener's great book "Centennial" a few years ago, may have prepared me and helped me to process the information in this interesting and factual book. I recommend it. There are many surprises and plenty of action.
Rating:
Summary: American Warriors
Review: In Crazy Horse and Custer the Parallel Lives Of Two American Warriors, Ambrose does a very good job of telling the life stories of the two warriors. He also makes this book very readable. He does not just state the information he really tells the story of the two men.
It starts on the plains of Nebraska. Ambrose writes about the Native American lifestyle and you can begin to see why our culture and theirs clashed so much. Then he talks of the culture in the United States during the 1800's. After that Ambrose begins to tell of the two warriors during their childhood, and then each of their separate journeys to manhood.
Ambrose keeps the readers interested throughout the whole book by going into great and gruesome details about the battles that each Crazy Horse and Custer had been involved in. The climax of the book was the Battle for Little Big Horn. I just could not put down the book he started out describing the battle by stating the mistakes that Custer had made, such as underestimating the power of the Native American forces. Then Amborse explains where Custer was and where Crazy Horse was and how Custer was caught on his flank by Crazy Horse. This book really made the history of Crazy Horse and Custer come alive.
Rating: 
Summary: Good intro to the period, but not much else of value here
Review: Stephen Ambrose is an amazingly prolific writer of history. I cannot speak about his other books, as I have not read them. This book, however, is simply a regurgitation of old research trying to be unique by juxtaposing the lives of the two men most associated with the Indian Wars. The only thing parallel in these two lives is the time period in which they lived. Anything else is a stretch. Indeed the underlying premise that these were two great warriors destined to meet on the field of battle is the stuff that drama, not real history, is made of. By all accounts the Indians didn't even know Custer was there until the fighting was over, and while Crazy Horse was known as a great warrior amongst his people, there were many respected warriors on the field that day. Crazy Horse was, at most, a first among equals. Indeed, in trying to popularize his history, Ambrose makes the common mistake of portraying Crazy Horse as a general leading his troops into battle. Phrases like "Crazy Horse stuck to his command post," may help to bring the battle to life for WWII veterans, but it is not a truly accurate rendering of how Indians fought. Ambose does do a good job in the first two chapters of showing the vast differences in the cultures these to men grew up in. For this I give the book two stars. It's also not a bad introduction for someone who has no previous knowledge of the topic. Only, however, if it encourages them to go on to read better and more accurate works.
Rating:
Summary: Heroes on the open prairie in 1876
Review: The story of Crazy Horse and Custer is the story of two men, two societies and two ways of life. The story of the Sioux and those who tried to destroy them.
And when Ambrose tells the story you really get the feeling that this is all about us today. How we became who we are. When Custer looked on a virgin forest, he envisioned sawmills, houses being build etc. Custer believed in progress, in the doctrine that things are going to be better.
Crazy Horse on the other hand saw the trees as they were at that moment. He lived in that moment. For Custer events marched forward, onward and upward. For Crazy Horse things were done because thats the way they had always been done.
Indeed, the European thought that a man should and could improve his station in life would have made little sense to Crazy Horse. Ambrose lets us know that Custer might have been a buffoon, but he died for the thing called progress, the thing we, whites, also believes in.
Along the way we also get to know Crazy Horse, his love for Black Buffalo Women and his people, the Sioux. And it does seem just that Crazy Horse could outnumber and outmaneuver Custer on what is now Custers hill.
One final indian victory before the end. An epic story where every little detail Stephen Ambrose tells us just makes us want more. A brilliant book! -Simon
Rating:
Summary: Ambrose Brings Both Crazy Horse And Custer Back To Life
Review: This is simply the best history book I have read in years. If you like American history you will like this book. If you like history and have visited Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument in South Dakota, you will probably love this book. If you like Native American history and/or happen to be a Civil War buff, you will treasure this book and not want it to end. Stephen Ambrose was a marvelous historian. He told real life stories with the skill of a master fiction writer. His characters are gripping, quixotic and often of enviable character. This was the case with Crazy Horse and Custer. If you want to learn about what it was like to live as a Native American on the high plains in the 19th century, this book is for you. If you want to know what it was like to be a U.S. soldier during or after the Civil War, this book is for you. If you want to read a story about valor, integrity, dignity, tragedy and pain, this book is for you. The story of "how the West was won" is sad and heartbreaking at times. But so is life, and so is much of the history of history of the United States. Life, like history, can also be extremely exciting and adventursome. In this book, Ambrose brings both Crazy Horse and Custer back to life so that we may live their adventures with them as they make history. Ambrose is exceptionally fair in his analysisof both men. He is partial to both the Native Americans and the U.S. soldiers who often brutalized them. He paints a picture that is, by all accounts, historically accurate and incredibly interesting. Ambrose makes it possible to see the good and bad in both Crazy Horse and Custer. He shows their strengths and weaknesses, allowing readere to draw their own conclusions about the nature of their conflict. There are few historians who have the talent to research and write with equally admirable skill. Ambrose has done both in this wonderful book. If you are interested in American history, read this. If not, read it anyway. It may inspire within you a new interest in history. It did for me. It may also inspire you to visit a part of the U.S. so beautifully described in this book. Reading this book is like taking a trip to South Dakota or Wyoming, or even into the inside of a Tee Pee or onto the field of a Civil War battle. You will feel surrounded by countless thousands of wild buffalo. You will feel as if you were in the middle of fight on the plains of Colorado. Once you begin this trip, you may not ever want it to end.
Rating: 
Summary: The truth about the Lakota
Review: To the Public: What Mr. Ambrose states in his book is mostly fabrication about
the Sioux Nation. I'm a member of both traditional treaty council's, The Hunkpapa Treaty Council and the Sioux Nation Treaty Council. I'm an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and Chairman, Board of Directors, Lakota/Dakota Advocates for Human and Civil Rights, Inc.. Mr. Ambrose as I have mentioned fabricated our culture and misused what he was told. People who have read the book have misused his writings. On page 39, Mr. Ambrose states that our babies are shared by the nursing women of the tribe, this statement is false and slandering and offensive. To be a nursing mother, the real mother must have died or could not nurse due to injury, and the nursing mother had to be a relative. And, all elders were not called grandfather by the children. Only the real grandfather and the uncles were called a grandfather by the children of that family. These statements were misinterpreted by a major director and misused in a major motion picture. The Lakota/Dakota Advocates are now taking action on these misinterpretations because the statement has slandered our people and one of our greatest warriors. Mr. Ambrose is a non-Indian and a self-proclaimed expert on the people of the Sioux Nation. To make statements about any people and their culture, it is only proper to talk to the people of that culture, no matter what culture it is, and not some self-proclaimed expert. Thank you. And, if there are any questions, I can be reached at the following phone number: 661-274-4434. With Respect, I'am Robert L. Primeaux,
Wanbli Zuya
Rating:
Summary: American Warriors
Review: Very interersting book about the blind luck that Custer had in life that failed him in the end. Interesting points about the life style of Native Americans. Well written like all of Ambrose's books.
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