A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn - the Last Great Battle of the American West
Author:
Genre: History
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genre: History
Book Type: Paperback
I was a bit disappointed in this book, which I purchased after visiting the Custer Battlefield National Monument (highly recommended, by the way). There were, of course, dozens of books on offer there, and the docent who led our tour group there recommended this one. One of the selling points was that Donovan was the first author to have access to the results of a 1984 forensic archaeological dig allowed on the battle site and which supposedly shed new light on details.
If such âdetailsâ were utilized in the book, they weren't obvious. In fact, despite devoting a whopping 400 pages (plus extensive footnotes) to the buildup to and aftermath of the event, the section of the narrative on the battle itself is confusing and inconclusive. Much more ink is devoted to the actions of Major Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen, whose mutual failure to follow the battle plans sketched out by Custer played a large part in the Seventh Cavalry's devastating loss. In a way, this may be excused â there were many survivors in the Reno and Benteen camp whose testimony painted a clear picture of both groups' actions, while the lack of survivors among Custer's contingent made firsthand testimony impossible. Native American testimony, however, has long been available and one wishes more use had been made of those sources.
Donovan does paint a broad canvas, however, and effectively places Custer's campaign within the larger picture of American incursion into Native American lands. That may be the book's greatest value to the amateur historian. The Battle at the Little Bighorn, and indeed the entire post-Civil War era of the Indian wars, did not occur in a vacuum, and Donovan evokes the era and its players with style.
If such âdetailsâ were utilized in the book, they weren't obvious. In fact, despite devoting a whopping 400 pages (plus extensive footnotes) to the buildup to and aftermath of the event, the section of the narrative on the battle itself is confusing and inconclusive. Much more ink is devoted to the actions of Major Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen, whose mutual failure to follow the battle plans sketched out by Custer played a large part in the Seventh Cavalry's devastating loss. In a way, this may be excused â there were many survivors in the Reno and Benteen camp whose testimony painted a clear picture of both groups' actions, while the lack of survivors among Custer's contingent made firsthand testimony impossible. Native American testimony, however, has long been available and one wishes more use had been made of those sources.
Donovan does paint a broad canvas, however, and effectively places Custer's campaign within the larger picture of American incursion into Native American lands. That may be the book's greatest value to the amateur historian. The Battle at the Little Bighorn, and indeed the entire post-Civil War era of the Indian wars, did not occur in a vacuum, and Donovan evokes the era and its players with style.
