Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Interest in the career of George Armstrong Custer has been unflagging since his death in battle near the Little Bighorn River in 1876, and books and articles about him have flowed steadily. It is time, then, that a diligent scholar and able editor should seek out the best that has been written by and about Custer, both by contemporaries and modern scholars, and package it for those who thrive on Custeriana as well as for those who would simply like to know more about him. Mr. Hutton has done a fine job of presenting both the man and the many myths that have grown up around the boy general of the Civil War and the colorful Indian fighter of the plains."—Washington Times Washington Times
Review
"[These] well-illustrated pages contain just about everything you'd want to know about the impetuous, courageous but not overly clever [Custer]. . . . Some of the most gripping reports are those of officers who actually participated in the fatal expedition and its maneuvers in the Black Hills of Dakota Territory. The Indians get their word in, too, most notably a grisly account of the 1876 battle by an eighty-year-old Cheyenne woman named Kate Bighead. . . . Certainly the dashing, war-loving Long Hair—which is what the Indians called their implacable enemy—never seemed more vivid a figure than in this unusual anthology."—Parade Magazine Parade Magazine
Review
"Very seldom is a book a pure joy to read; The Custer Reader is such a book. It offers standard texts and fresh insights about the United States' most famous—and most maligned—military figure."—True West True West
Review
"May well become the definitive book on this mythical and thoroughly controversial figure."—AB Bookman Weekly AB Bookman Weekly
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 561-574) and index.
About the Author
Paul Andrew Hutton, the editor, is an associate professor of history at the University of New Mexico. His books include the prize-winning Phil Sheridan and His Army (Nebraska, 1985).
Table of Contents
The Battle of the Little Bighorn / Chief Joseph White Bull, as told to Stanley Vestal -- Custer's last battle / Charles King -- She watched Custer's last battle / Kate Bighead, as told to Thomas B. Marquis -- Photographic essay -- From Little Bighorn to Little Big Man : the changing image of a western hero in popular culture / Paul Andrew Hutton -- The pictorial record of the old west : Custer's last stand : John Mulvany, Cassilly Adams, and Otto Becker / Robert Taft -- Sunday at the Little Big Horn with George / Eric von Schmidt -- Jack Crabb and the sole survivors of Custer's last stand / Brian W. Dippie -- "Correct in every detail" : General Custer in Hollywood / Paul Andrew Hutton -- Custer : the legend of the martyred hero in America / Bruce A. Rosenberg -- Photographic essay.