Reviews

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne

rocksie19's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

missyjohnson's review

4.0

I really enjoyed this book about the clash of the native Indian tribes and the white man's relentless movement into the west and their territory. I did get a bit frustrated with the repetition, in the first half of the book, that dealt with the horsemanship and marksmanship of the Comanche. It almost seemed as if each chapter was written as a stand alone bit of info that required a good bit of repeating. In the second half of the book, either I quite paying attention to that descriptor or it was not as prevalent. Could be that it was not as prevalent as the Indians were losing more and more territory by that time. I read a few folks reviews on this book before finishing (something that I try to avoid) and I am not certain that some of the folks even read the book. There were complaints that it was slanted to the white point of view. I completely disagree. The whites were ruthless and dismissive of their actions and were not glorifies. Another review mentioned the book had very little to do with Quanah Parker. I disagree there as well. Just because he was not a focal point until the last third of the book, the prior part of the book required the information to set the background for so much going forward. I will look at the great prairies of the US with different eyes going forward.

mr_rogers_el_camino's review

challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Cowboys vs. Indians and Indians vs. the World. We all think we know the story of how the west was forged into what it is today, but I'm sure this book will still shock and surprise you.
This is the rigorously investigated and chronicled true story of the plains Indians at the turn of the century. Intimate and devastating we are asked to bare witness as societies, cultures, religions, families and individuals literally fight to the death for the right to exist and thrive. This book doesn't take sides it simply tells the story of what happened and let's the reader make up their own mind. This may be hard for some readers due to preconceived ideas of manifest destiny and the inherent rightness of colonial expansionism. Others may take offense at learning the depravity of the tactics used by the Native Americans against the settlers. Either way this is an important piece of American history that is required reading for anyone interested in this time period or these larger than life characters. 

frostap's review

4.0

Well-written and well-researched, but it took a while for me to get into it. There's so very little I know about Plains Indians (well, not anymore!).

sarahjfloyd's review against another edition

Got about 25% in but the narrator was like listening to a male version of Siri. 

space_troll's review

adventurous dark informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

l_andrews3's review against another edition

challenging informative sad medium-paced

4.0

mtzbookworm64's review

I started reading this book after I saw it connected to the movie "The Searchers" with John Wayne. I had no idea the movie was based on an actual account. I am not from Texas but have lived in San Antonio for 24 years. So much history in this book about San Antonio and the Comanche Indians. I am VERY much enjoyed reading this book.

benmak319's review

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

qjbrown96's review

5.0

Easily the best history book I’ve ever read. It’s crazy the absolute horrific atrocities that humans have done to each other and this wasn’t 200 years ago. The narrative of today’s history is “look what the evil white man did to the poor innocent natives” when there is so much more to the story then you could ever perceive on your own. Yes the white man did horrible, awful things to innocents but the sheer barbarism the Native warriors not only did to innocent whites, but to other tribes, is something out of a nightmare.

This book tells more about the Comanches as a whole more than Quanah Parker but I’m honestly glad of that since he’s probably the least interesting part of the whole book. The story sheds some light on how tragic frontier life was. Cynthia Ann Parker being abducted several times, living a life of misery. Quanah living a life of vengeance. Pioneers and natives facing horrific murders. It really is a sad story but extremely interesting and I would recommend to anyone.