Synopses & Reviews
On July 28, 1797, an elderly Lenape woman stood before the newly appointed almsman of Pennsylvaniaand#8217;s Chester County and delivered a brief account of her life. In a sad irony, Hannah Freeman was establishing her residencyand#8212;a claim that paved the way for her removal to the poorhouse. Ultimately, however, it meant the final removal from the ancestral land she had so tenaciously maintained. Thus was William Pennand#8217;s and#8220;peaceable kingdomand#8221; preserved.and#160;
A Lenape among the Quakers reconstructs Hannah Freemanand#8217;s history, traveling from the days of her grandmothers before European settlement to the beginning of the nineteenth century. The story that emerges is one of persistence and resilience, as and#8220;Indian Hannahand#8221; negotiates life with the Quaker neighbors who employ her, entrust their children to her, seek out her healing skills, and, when she is weakened by sickness and age, care for her. And yet these are the same neighbors whose families have dispossessed hers. Fascinating in its own right, Hannah Freemanand#8217;s life is also remarkable for its unique view of a Native American woman in a colonial community during a time of dramatic transformation and upheaval. In particular it expands our understanding of colonial history and the Native experience that history often renders silent.
Review
and#160;and#8220;The most complete, scholarly study of Geronimoand#8217;s life from birth to death I have ever read.and#8221;and#8212;Howard Lamar, Yale University
Review
and#8220;Completely original and very well sourced. In this, Utley continues the high standard of his earlier books. . . . His careful weighing of evidence and ferreting out of story lines from far-flung and sometimes conflicting sources are impressive throughout.and#8221;and#8212;Walter Nugent, University of Notre Dame
Review
"Robert Utley's Geronimo is a brilliantly researched and clearly written biography of the Chiricahua Apache leader whose legend never dies. Utley, the great historian of the American West, adeptly fleshes out the man from the myth. A stunning achievement!"and#8212;Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America
Review
andquot;An unflinching and engrossing chronicle of Geronimoandrsquo;s life and times. Drawing upon his mastery of western military history and his ear for good stories, Robert Utley brings a remarkable and bloody era to life.andquot;andmdash;Brian DeLay, author of
War of a Thousand Desertsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Review
Utleyand#8217;s and#8220;long career as a Western American historian, his association with the National Park Service, and his close attention to the topographic detail of the Apache homeland guarantee a true picture of the man who was neither hero nor thug. Geronimo was never a chief, but he had a mysterious, surreal power that left his people in awe, and often in fear, of him.and#8221; and#8212;
Kirkus ReviewsReview
and#8220;Meticulous and finely researched. . . . Utley achieves his goal of humanizing Geronimo, fastidiously showing the transition from bloodthirsty raider to subservient prisoner of war, fair attraction, and, eventually, entrepreneur.and#8221;and#8212;
Publishers WeeklyReview
andldquo;This biography by historian Robert Utley draws on new literature and historical sources, stripping away the rumors. It tells Geronimoandrsquo;s story from both the white and Apache perspectives andndash; what it was like to be an Apache fighter, how Geronimo stayed free and why he finally surrendered.andrdquo;andmdash;Caspar [WY] Star-Tribune
Review
"[A] sure-to-be-a-classic book. . . . Fast-paced and engrossing.and#8221;and#8212;Wild West
Review
andldquo;Owing to Utleyandrsquo;s use of Mexican archival resources and newspapers, this now stands as the most up-to-date and comprehensive biographical study of Geronimo.andrdquo;andmdash;Nathan Bender,and#160;Library Journaland#160;
Review
andldquo;Utley is widely regarded as dean of Western American historians. . . . He has read virtually everything written about Geronimo and produced a highly factual, easy-to-read biography. . . .and#160;Geronimoand#160;shines a harsh, clear light that cuts through the legend to reveal who this fighting man really was and how American might ended his warrior ways.andrdquo;andmdash;Marc Wortman, The Daily Beastand#160;
Review
andldquo;Given the merciless nature of warfare in the American Southwest, it has always been difficult to remain objective about the character and exploits of the Apache warrior Geronimo. Still, Utley, acclaimed biographer and chronicler of the Indian wars, has made a valiant effort. . . . Utley succeed[s] in describing the human being behind the violent, almost demonic, image.andrdquo;andmdash;Jay Freeman,and#160;Booklistand#160;
Review
Utley andldquo;brings a lifetime of knowledge about the Indians of the American Southwest to a search for the andlsquo;realandrsquo; Geronimo.and#160; . . . The Apache leader, he concludes, was a complex and contradictory man, by turns defiant and submissive.andrdquo;andmdash;Glenn Altschuler, Tulsa Worldand#160;
Review
andldquo;Robert Utley is an accomplished and meticulous historian, with a solid grasp of the history of the American West. . . . Utley has done a serviceable job of tracking Geronimo through his many raids [and] . . . has followed Geronimo skillfully through his various escapes from Union soldiers. . . . [Until], while remaining under guard as a prisoner of war, [Geronimo] ended up as a kind of American celebrity.andrdquo;andmdash;Larry McMurtry, New York Review of Booksand#160;
Review
and#8220;Geronimo famously eluded the United States Army during his lifetime, and he has been dodging historians since his death. Robert M. Utley, a distinguished chronicler of the West and author of a biography of Sitting Bull, is the latest to make the chase, and he has succeeded as well as anyone will.and#8221;and#8212;H. W. Brands,andnbsp;Washington Postandnbsp;
Review
and#160;Winner of the 2013 Wrangler Award in the Literary Nonfiction category, given by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
Review
Won the 2013 Spur Award for Best Western Nonfiction-Biography given by Western Writers of America.
Review
Honorable Mention at the 2013and#160;San Franciscoand#160;Book Festival in the Biography/Autobiography category
Review
"This fascinating account of the Native American freedom fighter paints a complex picture of the warriorand#8217;s shocking violence."and#8212;Sunday Times
Review
"Robert M. Utleyand#8217;s scholarly biography of and#8216;the most famous North American Indian of all timeand#8217; is treadingand#8230; on sensitive ancestral ground and#8211; but strides in fearlessly. For this slender book is a potent challenge to Geronimoand#8217;s status within the and#8216;heroic mouldand#8217; of noble Indian chiefs such as Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse... Utley has dissected [Geronimoand#8217;s life] with forensic rigourand#8230; If you are intrigued by the real Apache behind the burning ranches and scattered corpses of Cormac McCarthyand#8217;s novels or John Fordand#8217;s films, then this is a valuable and recommended read."and#8212; Brian Schofield, The Sunday Times
Review
and#8220;The remarkable Dewey Beard was a man who seemed to live foreverand#8212;old enough to have fought at the Little Bighorn in 1876, its last survivor when he finally died in 1955. What the old-time Lakota were like, and what they lived through in those seventy years, is the subject of Philip Burnhamand#8217;s original, bracing, touching, surprising, and vigorously written book. Take note; this is something we have never seen before: a serious, and sometimes funny, and often dramatic, and always interesting account of a Lakota life after the buffalo were gone. Thatand#8217;s where the story usually stops. Burnham lets Beard tell us what happened next.and#8221;and#8212;Tom Powers, author of The Killing of Crazy Horse
Review
and#8220;By scouring the archives and conducting personal interviews, Philip Burnham has helped clarify the historical record, teasing out new information and dispelling lingering myths. Song of Dewey Beard is a thoroughly researched, well-written, and engaging book.and#8221;and#8212;Akim Reinhardt, author of Ruling Pine Ridge: Oglala Lakota Politics from the IRA to Wounded Knee
Review
Geronimoandnbsp;is and#8220;compact, crisply written and provocative. . . . Utley peels away the legend to reveal a complex and difficult man whose life began in a world untouched by American civilization and extended into the 20th century. Gen. Nelson Miles of the U.S. Army . . . called him and#8216;one of the lowest and most cruel of the savages of the American continent,and#8217; as well as and#8216;one of the brightest, most resolute, determined-looking men that I have ever encountered.and#8217;and#8221;and#8212;Fergus M. Bordewich,andnbsp;Wall Street Journal
Review
"The depth of Utley's research, his impressive command of the military history of the Southwest, and his sharp eye for detail will likely make this book the standard by which all other works on Geronimo will be judged for years to come."and#8212;Tim Hull, Tucson Weekly
Review
Honorable Mention at the 2013 Great Southeast Book Festival in the Biography category, given by JM Northern Media LLC.
Review
Shortlisted for the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association, Reading the West Book Awards in the Adult Nonfiction category.
Review
"A revision of previous accounts that portray Geronimo as a heroic figure fighting to preserve his homeland."and#8212;Choice
Review
"...[A] professionally researched and written book that gives the reader a condensed description of Geronimo and provides thoughtful observations about the legend's complex life. It is definitely a worthwhile read for those interested in Apaches or the Wild West."and#8212;Bud Shapard, The Journal of Arizona History
Review
andquot;Aand#160;thoughtful documentation of one woman's struggle to maintain her ancestral homeland.andquot;andmdash;Booklist
Review
and#8220;With great insight and sensitivity, Dawn Marsh has pieced together Hannah Freemanand#8217;s story. All who have ever wondered what happened to Pennsylvaniaand#8217;s Native people should read this book.and#8221;and#8212;Nancy Shoemaker, author of A Strange Likeness: Becoming Red and White in Eighteenth-Century North America
Review
and#8220;Using the closely examined life of a single eighteenth-century Native American woman, Dawn Marsh convincingly challenges Pennsylvaniaand#8217;s claim to a more just and humane treatment of its indigenous peoples, persuasively contending that Native Americans adopted complex strategies to preserve their cultural heritage, and explores the significance of the continuing mythology of and#8216;Indian Hannahand#8217; Freemanand#8212;all in a good read.and#8221;and#8212;Melton McLaurin, author of Celia, A Slave
Review
andldquo;Utley is at his best in offering details of the many military missions led by a numerous list of army officers who were thwarted by Geronimoandrsquo;s ability to be elusive . . .andrdquo;andmdash;Paul D. Travis, Texas Womanandrsquo;s University
Review
andquot;Using a genuine relationship with Beardandrsquo;s relatives and intertwining their own personal stories into the narrative, Burnham underscores the legacy left them by this man who just lived life as best as he knew how.andquot;andmdash;Nancy S. Gillis, Nebraska History
Review
andldquo;Robert M. Utley displays the gifts that have made him a storied interpreter of the nineteenth-century west. With all the crackling drama that defined Billy and Nedandrsquo;s action-packed lives, he deftly illuminates each manandrsquo;s character and sets his life against the background of wider conflicts over money, power, and race. Utley shows how each was, in his own violent way, extraordinary.andrdquo;andmdash;T.J. Stiles, author of The First Tycoon, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award
Review
andldquo;Robert M. Utleyandrsquo;s Wanted is a marvelous dual biography of the most famous outlaws of their time. Even though the Kid hailed from New Mexico and Kelly from Australia, Utley ably draws distinctive parallels between their lives. A classic study for the ages.andrdquo;andmdash;Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America
Review
andldquo;Brilliant idea! Billy the Kid and Ned Kelly didnandrsquo;t have a lot in common, but together they make one helluva book. What makes this andlsquo;comparison testandrsquo; fascinating is that the author gives you the facts and leaves you to decide for yourself. Iandrsquo;m still working on it.andrdquo;andmdash; Frederick Nolan, author of The West of Billy the Kid
Review
andldquo;Any book by the dean of western narrative historians is cause for celebration. Such is the case here. No one has written a book comparing one of the western demigods with a comparable legendary character from another culture. The achievement is one of a kind.andrdquo;andmdash;Richard W. Etulain, author of The Life and Legends of Calamity Jane
Review
andldquo;Can a people be defined by the iconic outlaws they embrace? Historian Robert M. Utley tackles that question and many others in this enlightening comparison of the two most famous bad boys produced by the former British colonies of the United States and Australia. Utley, as usual, brings the past to life with graceful prose and powerful insights.andrdquo;andmdash;Paul Andrew Hutton, Distinguished Professor, University of New Mexico
Synopsis
A fast-paced biography of the most famous North American Indian of all time, with new material to reveal the man behind the legend
Synopsis
Renowned for ferocity in battle, legendary for an uncanny ability to elude capture, feared for the violence of his vengeful raids, the Apache fighter Geronimo captured the public imagination in his own time and remains a figure of mythical proportion today. This thoroughly researched biography by a renowned historian of the American West strips away the myths and rumors that have long obscured the real Geronimo and presents an authentic portrait of a man with unique strengths and weaknesses and a destiny that swept him into the fierce storms of history.
Historian Robert Utley draws on an array of new sources and his own lifelong research on the mountain West and white-Indian conflicts of the late nineteenth century to create an updated, accurate, and highly exciting narrative of Geronimo's life. Utley unfolds the story through the alternating perspectives of whites and Apaches, and he arrives at a more nuanced understanding of Geronimo's character and motivation than ever before. What it was like to be an Apacheand#160;fighter-in-training, why Indians as well as whites feared Geronimo, how Geronimo maintained his freedom, and why he finally surrenderedand#8212;the answers to these questions and many more fill the pages of this irresistable volume.
Synopsis
The great Native American warriors and their resistance to the U.S. government in the war against the Plains Indians is a well-known chapter in the story of the American West. In the aftermath of the great resistance, as the Indian nations recovered from war, many figures loomed heroic, yet their stories are mostly unknown. This long-overdue biography of Dewey Beard (ca. 1862and#8211;1955), a Lakota who witnessed the Battle of Little Bighorn and survived the Wounded Knee Massacre, chronicles a remarkable life that can be traced through major historical events from the late nineteenth into the mid-twentieth century.
Beard was not only a witness to two major battles against the Lakota; he also traveled with William and#8220;Buffalo Billand#8221; Codyand#8217;s Wild West show, worked as a Hollywood Indian, and witnessed the grand transformation of the Black Hills into a tourism mecca. Beard spent most of his later life fighting to reclaim his homeland and acting as and#8220;old Dewey Beard,and#8221; a living relic of the and#8220;old Westand#8221; for the tourists.
With a keen eye for detail and a true storytellerand#8217;s talent, Philip Burnham presents the man behind the legend of Dewey Beard and shows how the life of the last survivor of Little Bighorn provides a glimpse into the survival of Indigenous America.
Synopsis
Beard was not only a witness to two major battles against the Lakota; he also traveled with William and#8220;Buffalo Billand#8221; Codyand#8217;s Wild West show, worked as a Hollywood Indian, and witnessed the grand transformation of the Black Hills into a tourism mecca. Beard spent most of his later life fighting to reclaim his homeland and acting as and#8220;old Dewey Beard,and#8221; a living relic of the and#8220;old Westand#8221; for the tourists.
Synopsis
A renowned biographer compares the lives and times of American outlaw Billy the Kid and his Australian counterpart Ned Kelly
Synopsis
The oft-told exploits of Billy the Kid and Ned Kelly survive vividly in the public imaginations of their respective countries, the United States and Australia. But the outlawsandrsquo; reputations are so weighted with legend and myth, the truth of their lives has become obscure. In this adventure-filled double biography, Robert M. Utley reveals the true stories and parallel courses of the two notorious contemporaries who lived by the gun, were executed while still in their twenties, and remain compelling figures in the folklore of their homelands.
Robert M. Utley draws sharp, insightful portraits of first Billy, then Ned, and compares their lives and legacies. He recounts the adventurous exploits of Billy, a fun-loving, expert sharpshooter who excelled at escape and lived on the run after indictment for his role in the Lincoln Country War. Bush-raised Ned, the son of an Irish convict father and Irish mother, was a man whose outrage against British colonial authority inspired him to steal cattle and sheep, kill three policemen, and rob banks for the benefit of impoverished Irish sympathizers. Utley recounts the exploits of the notorious young men with accuracy and appeal. He discovers their profound differences, despite their shared fates, and illuminates the worlds in which they lived on opposite sides of the globe.
and#160;
About the Author
A conversation with Robert M. Utley
Q: Why Geronimo?
A: Geronimo is the best-known North American Indian of all time. His name continues to resonate with the public even though he was a lesser leader than most other Indian leaders. A major biography has not appeared since 1976, and I wanted to do for Geronimo what I did for Sitting Bull: discover the real person within his own culture.
Q: How does this compare to your biography of Sitting Bull, The Lance and the Shield?
A: Sitting Bull was less challenging because of ample documentation, and I believe the real person does emerge. It remains my best of sixteen books unless eclipsed by Geronimo. I think I captured the real Geronimo, but the public will decide.
Q: What made Geronimo tick?
A: Many influences made Geronimo tick, not least his culture, which was not only spiritual but also centered on a raid-and-war lifestyle. In the latter he strove to become the greatest but never succeeded. After Geronimo surrendered and spent twenty-three years as a prisoner of war, other influences made him tick into a different personand#8212;a celebrity in the white manand#8217;s world. In this he excelled.
Q: What was the most moving thing you learned in researching Geronimoand#8217;s life?
A: The most moving, or surprising, revelation was that in Geronimoand#8217;s last two years of freedom, his mastery of Mexican geography allowed him to elude his pursuers so constantly that his greatest achievement in war was in avoiding war.
Praise for Robert M. Utleyand#8217;s The Lance and the Shield:
"Gripping. . . . Mr. Utley transforms Sitting Bull, the abstract, romanticized icon and symbol, into a flesh-and-blood person with a down-to-earth story. . . . The Lance and the Shield clears the screen of the exaggerations and fantasies long directed at the name of Sitting Bull."and#8212;New York Times Book Review