The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn

From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Philbrick here takes on an oft-told tale, replete with its dashing, flawed main character, its historically doomed, noble Native chief, and a battlefield strewn with American corpses. While off his usual stride with a surfeit of unnecessary detail, bestselling author and National Book Award–winner Philbrick ( In the Heart of the Sea ; The Mayflower ) writes a lively narrative that brushes away the cobwebs of mythology to reveal the context and realities of Custer's unexpected 1876 defeat at the hands of his Indian enemies under Sitting Bull, and the character of each leader. Judicious in his assessments of events and intentions, Philbrick offers a rounded history of one of the worst defeats in American military history, a story enhanced by his minute examination of the battle's terrain and interviews with descendants in both camps. Distinctively, too, he takes no sides. In his compelling history, Philbrick underscores the pyrrhic nature of Sitting Bull's victory—it was followed by federal action to move his tribe to a reservation. 32 pages of b&w photos, 18 pages of color photos, 18 maps. (May 4) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Bookmarks Magazine Exchanging maritime history for the landlocked Battle of the Little Bighorn, Philbrick explores the volatile political, economic, and social forces that led to the infamous confrontation. Drawing on a multitude of sources, he has produced an absorbing page-turner rich with complex characters and fast-paced action, and he demolishes commonly held myths along the way. However, despite his extraordinary research and writing skills, Philbrick doesn't have much to add to the debate surrounding the battle and its significance, and he occasionally loses sight of the story with too many intriguing asides. Critics agreed, though, that The Last Stand is "both a widely researched history of the ill-fated military campaign as well as a sympathetic attempt to capture the humanity of all involved" ( Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ). From Booklist From the moment Lieutenant Colonel George Custer galloped out of sight on June 25, 1876, controversy commenced and continues, inspiring an immense and often minutiae-minded literature about the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Riding to the rescue of overwhelmed history buffs, Philbrick applies the skills of narrative synthesis that have produced best-sellers (Mayflower, 2006) and may do so again with this title. His storytelling ability especially challenged by this subject—for surviving evidence does not permit an unassailable reconstruction of Custer’s actions—Philbrick produces a fascinating integration of known fact and defensible speculation that should rivet his audience. Shifting between the movements of Custer’s cavalry regiment and the Cheyenne and Lakota village it was approaching, Philbrick both quickens the pace and flashes back to the lives of the principal characters in the drama: Custer; his subordinate officers Frederick Benteen and Marcus Reno; and on the Indian side, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Although in the aftermath of Custer’s annihilation, contemporary American blame fell on the dead man, Philbrick arraigns Reno (for being intoxicated) and Benteen (for being slow to link up with Custer). However, Philbrick keeps hold of a hint that Custer let Reno attack unsupported so as to garner the glory for himself. Evoking such tantalizing details, as well as the fight’s tragic context of being the Plains Indians’ own last stand, Philbrick delivers a compellingly readable rendition of the famous battle. --Gilbert Taylor Praise for Mayflower , finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History "Vivid and remarkably fresh...Philbrick has recast the Pilgrims for our age of searching and turmoil."— The New York Times Book Review "A signal achievement. Philbrick enlightens and even astounds."—Salon.com Praise for Sea of Glory , winner of the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize "Brilliantly told...has to be among the best nonfiction books of this or any other year."— Los Angeles Time Book Review "A breathtaking account of one of history''s greatest adventures."— Entertainment Weekly Nathaniel Philbrick, is a leading authority on the history of Nantucket Island. His In the Heart of the Sea won the National Book Award. His latest book is Sea of Glory , about the epic U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842. His other books include Away off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People, 1602-1890 (which Russell Baker called "indispensable") and Abram's Eyes: The Native American Legend of Nantucket Island ("a classic of historical truthtelling," according to Stuart Frank , director of the Kendall Whaling Museum). He has written an introduction to a new edition of Joseph Hart 's Miriam Coffin, or The Whale Fisherman , a Nantucket novel (first published in 1834) that Melville relied upon for information about the island when writing Moby Dick . Philbrick, a champion sailboat racer, has also written extensively about sailing, including The Passionate Sailor (1987) and the forthcoming Second Wind: A Sunfish Sailor's Odyssey . He was editor in chief of the classic Yaahting: A Parody (1984). In his role as director of the Egan Institute of Maritime Studies, Philbrick, who is also a research fellow at the Nantucket Historical Association, gives frequent talks about Nantucket and sailing. He has appeared on "NBC Today Weekend", A&E's "Biography" series, and National Public Radio and has served as a consultant for the movie "Moby Dick", shown on the USA Network. He received a bachelor of Arts from Brown University and a Master of Arts in American Literature from Duke. He lives on Natucket with his wife and two children. Read more