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retired_to_alternate_universe's review against another edition
4.0
Very well researched dual biography of George Armstrong Custer and Sioux leader Crazy Horse.
mpclemens's review against another edition
4.0
Essentially two biographies in one, Ambrose traces the lives of these two figures through their upbringing, education, lives and loves, and only in the final few pages do their paths finally and decidedly intersect -- Custer falling famously in battle, Crazy Horse ignominiously a short time later. Neither man is drawn the way that my own limited knowledge of history would represent them: Custer, especially, whose name could be shorthand for "headstrong and arrogant." Both men are pitiable, and the depth of if mistreatment of the native population by the U.S. Government is so disgusting as to be stomach-turning. Each man lived and ultimately fought for what he believed was right and as an extension of their natures and their times.
History is not my favorite subject at all, and I struggle to follow names and places. Ambrose's text is easy to read, though, and he lays out the characters and locations as a story, not just a dry recitation of facts. He does not attempt to dissect the famous battle more than to outline the positions of the major players on the field, and to hypothesize somewhat about their motivations, but as a whole, the book is largely free of editorializing. It's a fine, full read.
History is not my favorite subject at all, and I struggle to follow names and places. Ambrose's text is easy to read, though, and he lays out the characters and locations as a story, not just a dry recitation of facts. He does not attempt to dissect the famous battle more than to outline the positions of the major players on the field, and to hypothesize somewhat about their motivations, but as a whole, the book is largely free of editorializing. It's a fine, full read.
rifledoc1's review against another edition
4.0
After spending a few days driving though Montana and South Dakota, I bought a copy of Custer and Crazy Horse at the Mount Rushmore bookstore with the intention of expanding my admittedly limited knowledge of the important history associated with the two individuals and geographic areas associated with them. I was of course expecting to gain new insight to the Battle of Little Bighorn, but I unexpectedly learned much more. Though the parallel lives of Custer and Crazy Horse, Stephen Ambrose explores the wider cultural, economic, and military aspects of two very different societies increasingly at odds with one another.
crowley22's review against another edition
4.0
A thoroughly engaging and entertaining biography. Ambrose really brings these characters to life, and you really begin to feel as if you know and understand these men, warts and all.
While writing this review, i kept writing about how even handed i felt the book was, and I started to list the pros and cons of just about everything.
I quickly realized that was boring.
Just..... don't go into this book expecting to find out that the Indian Society was a peaceful society by any mean. And don't go in expecting that the union was a symbol of equality post the civil war. Both societies had glaring, and often similar, problems (War-like, inferiority of women, dislike towards 'others')
When I read this book, I had a very rough idea as too who these men were, and found that the book was very good for a novice on the subject.
It seems to be a good entry point to those interested in learning about the Indian Wars.
I have two points against the book.
1.) it is true the author gives his own opinion perhaps too often. It sometimes leads to an unclear line between opinion and fact. (but perhaps improves the reading pace)
2) The author glosses over Custer's Civil war career. He still mentions specific events, and the most important aspects on his later life, but he doesn't cover the battles in the same details as he does during the Indian wars. I know the focus of the book is on Custer and Crazy Horse, but I would have liked to have read a complete biography, which I felt i got about Crazy Horse.
Of course, because of these two points, I have to question the veracity of the piece as a whole. However I am sure the broader points are accurate, and as a history book its a damn good read.
While writing this review, i kept writing about how even handed i felt the book was, and I started to list the pros and cons of just about everything.
I quickly realized that was boring.
Just..... don't go into this book expecting to find out that the Indian Society was a peaceful society by any mean. And don't go in expecting that the union was a symbol of equality post the civil war. Both societies had glaring, and often similar, problems (War-like, inferiority of women, dislike towards 'others')
When I read this book, I had a very rough idea as too who these men were, and found that the book was very good for a novice on the subject.
It seems to be a good entry point to those interested in learning about the Indian Wars.
I have two points against the book.
1.) it is true the author gives his own opinion perhaps too often. It sometimes leads to an unclear line between opinion and fact. (but perhaps improves the reading pace)
2) The author glosses over Custer's Civil war career. He still mentions specific events, and the most important aspects on his later life, but he doesn't cover the battles in the same details as he does during the Indian wars. I know the focus of the book is on Custer and Crazy Horse, but I would have liked to have read a complete biography, which I felt i got about Crazy Horse.
Of course, because of these two points, I have to question the veracity of the piece as a whole. However I am sure the broader points are accurate, and as a history book its a damn good read.
indianajane's review against another edition
2.0
So dry. So wordy. So soporific. (Don't forget, I was a history major. I've read A LOT of history.) As soon as I got to 51% I called myself finished. (It has been a couple of years since I invoked my personal 51%-and-I-can-call-it-read rule. )
miocyon's review against another edition
3.0
This was the first Ambrose book I’ve read, and I don’t think I need to read another one. He comes off as glib and arrogant, and throughout this I knew it had been written by an old, white dude. The bits about Custer are interesting, but I’ve read other books on him that go into more depth. I’m sure there are similarly better books on Crazy Horse that I will have to find.
dunguyen's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't actually like this book to begin with. It started off in a pretty standard manner before really picking up. Most of the book is however really gripping and Ambrose manages to write about Crazy Horse and Custer as if they were destined to meet each other on the battlefield. It actually reads like fiction sometimes. The book seemed well-researched as well, collecting on various interviews to build a picture of Crazy Horse even though Ambrose had to make several assumptions about the early life of Crazy Horse. Custer's life in comparison is much more known but even then Ambrose carefully prefixes sources that are less than objective. Ambrose takes a lot of liberties in analyzing both Crazy Horse and Custer and even explores a bit of alternative history but it's always prefixed with a disclaimer.
While sources are light on Crazy Horse, Custer is an extremely fascinating figure and perhaps it's a symptom of Ambrose's admiration of Crazy Horse but Custer is not portrayed in the best light. From another book on Custer, Custer is seen as an excellent tactical battlefield/cavalry commander during the Civil War but Ambrose attributes almost everything to luck or downplays the Confederate troops. In any case, I'd recommend reading more about Custer to provide some more context.
Ambrose manages to make the history alive and the book is a gripping read on the personalities of Crazy Horse and Custer but also on the environment they lived in, the political machinations of the US before, during and after the Civil War and on Native American society on the high plains and the American conflict with the Native Americans.
While sources are light on Crazy Horse, Custer is an extremely fascinating figure and perhaps it's a symptom of Ambrose's admiration of Crazy Horse but Custer is not portrayed in the best light. From another book on Custer, Custer is seen as an excellent tactical battlefield/cavalry commander during the Civil War but Ambrose attributes almost everything to luck or downplays the Confederate troops. In any case, I'd recommend reading more about Custer to provide some more context.
Ambrose manages to make the history alive and the book is a gripping read on the personalities of Crazy Horse and Custer but also on the environment they lived in, the political machinations of the US before, during and after the Civil War and on Native American society on the high plains and the American conflict with the Native Americans.