Custer and Little Bighorn: The Man, the Mystery, the Myth

Rating:
Summary: Nice Overview Of Custer and the LBH with Great Pictures
Review: A large book well armed with pictures of not only Custer, his family, but also of key major military personnel, Forts, leading confederates and best of all, great Indian leaders. Besides the large presence of photographs, the book provides a nice compressed history of Custer from Birth to his postmortem. It's an accelerated read with direct references to historical events without gratuitous detail. In reference to his CW career, Donovan is a little light on Custer in the valley in 1864 as Custer has some conflicts with colleagues over such things as who earned the captured flags versus who actually took them. In addition, Custer's role at Five Forks is a bit large in contrast to the infantry's 5th Corps who crushed the isolated Confederate left. Overall, it's a pretty good overview of Custer's Civil War and pre- LBH western career. I do note that pictures sometimes fill in voids such as the destruction of Lt. Kidder's command and Custer's meeting with Satanta, which are missing from the narrative. The best part of the book deals with the LBH and the author pulls no punches in explaining what he thinks happened. His theory reflects Michno's "Lakota Noon" primarily in that he theorizes that Custer held his battalion on the east side of the river waiting for Reno and Benteen to rally to him to squeeze the Indians his battalion and theirs. But of course that does not happen and the command is destroyed. The author captures all the personal conflicts in command such as Reno's fitness and Benteen's pouting causing his leisurely stroll. The after the LBH evaluation is also quite good recognizing that several elements caused Custer's defeat, not just Custer's brashness, Reno's ineptness or Benteen's bitterness but the loss of surprise, the pressure to attack, the confidence of the Indians, their stubborn resistance capitalizing on the fractured commands and collapse and the primary fact that they didn't run like everyone perceived. Other elements include Crook's stepping out of the campaign with his 1300 men after the battle of the Rosebud the week before against smaller numbers then Custer. But also it's noted that Custer preferred the standard morning surprise attack but after discivering Indians on his back trail, he felt the need to attack immediately with reconnaissance done while on the move. Many forget that Colonel Reynolds inder Crook was nearly Court Martialed for botching the March Powder River attack. Although not mentioned directly, all commanders were under pressure to attack before the Indians dispersed. Terry's and Crook's subsequent post LBH campaigns attest to the Indian mobility challenge. The latter part of the book deals with the Custer legend based on writings, movies and historical hindsight that are based on the culture at the present, WWII era versus post Vietnam. This latter portion reminds of Hutton's great book the "Custer Reader" which is also worth a very good look since it also deals with participant' writings and fellow historians. This is a good book for those looking for a pretty good capsule on Custer that includes excellent pictures and an argument. Then they can venture into the books with greater analysis and detail and of course a greater feel for why the battle is so controversial.

Rating:
Summary: so so
Review: Custer and the Little Bighorn was simply a great read! Not only are the illustrations and photos absolutely gorgeous - giving the reader a perfect visual context for the fascinating and tragic story of George Armstrong Custer, but once I started reading I couldn't put it down! The author obviously knows his history AND knows how to grab the reader's interest from the get-go and not give it up until after the final, bloody battle. This is a great coffee table book - with it's multitude of great photos, illustrations and maps. I think it's a terrific gift for any history buff - male or female, of any age. I'm keeping the first one I bought for myself, but it's also a definite on my gift-giving list for family and friends!

Rating:
Summary: A reader from Washington, DC
Review: The most thorough and well-researched book I've ever read on Custer. The beautiful illustrations, supporting historical documents, and Dononvan's insightful analysis evoke the myth that is our American West. Custer embodies that myth. Donovan succeeds in humanizing this compelling, tragic man while celebrating his immortality. The author does an exceptional job of establishing and explaining the legend of Custer and why his last battle seized the imagination of the American public. Securing not just a place in American history, but in our culture.

Rating:
Summary: A reader from Washington, DC
Review: The most thorough and well-researched book I've ever read on Custer. The beautiful illustrations, supporting historical documents, and Dononvan's insightful analysis evoke the myth that is our American West. Custer embodies that myth. Donovan succeeds in humanizing this compelling, tragic man while celebrating his immortality. The author does an exceptional job of establishing and explaining the legend of Custer and why his last battle seized the imagination of the American public. Securing not just a place in American history, but in our culture.

Rating:
Summary: Cure for Over-civilization
Review: This is a concise, complete and well researched account of Custer's military career. The photos and maps are fantastic! I finished this book in one day. This is a great book for anyone interested in Custer, but uninformed. It's all here in a succinct well written and beautifully illustrated book.

Rating:
Summary: so so
Review: This was fun to read for the most part. There really is nothing new and I do take issue with the claim that this is" the first major illustrated work" on Custer. Lawrence Frost's book, The Custe Album, holds that distinction