The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick

The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick

'The whites want war and we will give it to them.' Sitting Bull * This is the archetypal story of the American West. Whether it is cast as a tale of unmatched bravery in the face of impossible odds or of insane arrogance receiving its rightful comeuppance, Custer's Last Stand continues to captivate the imagination. * Nathaniel Philbrick brilliantly reconstructs the build-up to the Battle of the Little Big Horn through to the final eruption of violence. Two legendary figures dominate the events: George Armstrong Custer and Sitting Bull. No longer the fresh-faced 'Boy-General' of the Civil War, Custer was now mired in financial, professional and political problems. A clear and just cause had been replaced by ambiguity and frustration - by ill-fated efforts at peace treaties, treachery and compromises on both sides. * Forced to take to the plains to feed themselves, and increasingly outraged by the government's policies towards them, the Sioux and Cheyenne became infused with a new sense of collective identity and purpose. Between six and eight thousand people came together in the largest ever gathering of Native Americans. If the government should be foolish enough to pursue them, they would stand and fight. Sitting Bull was in his mid-forties, His charisma and political savvy had enabled him to emerge as their leader. A vision he received during a Sun Dance - of soldiers falling from the sky - was widely understood to presage a great victory. * Nathaniel Philbrick brings vividly to life all those involved - from the Oglala Sioux warrior Crazy Horse and Major Marcus Reno who led the first attack, to Libby Custer waiting with the other army wives at Fort Lincoln. He evokes too the history, geography and haunting beauty of the Great Plains and provides the finest account to date of what happened there - and why - at the end of June 1876.

A mesmerising portrait of two extraordinary individuals and a thrilling blow-by-blow account of a landmark battle, it is a terrific achievement -- Dominic Sandbrook * The Sunday Times *
A stirring, perceptive retelling of an endlessly fascinating battle * Kirkus *
Philbrick humanizes history, not only putting a recognizable face on the players in one of America's most notorious events but also providing insight into their hearts and minds * American Library Journal *
Philbrick 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.. compelling * Publishers' Weekly *
As brilliant an example of combat reconstruction as one is likely to find in any history of this scope and ambition -- Trevor Royle * Sunday Herald *

Nathaniel Philbrick is an historian and broadcaster whose books include In the Heart of the Sea, which was a Sunday Times bestseller and won America's National Book Award (and is director Ron Howard's major new film), Sea of Glory (winner of the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize), Mayflower, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and the Sunday Times bestselling The Last Stand.
He lives on Nantucket Island and is the founding director of the Egan Institute of Maritime Studies and a research fellow at the Nantucket Historical Association.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781847920096
ISBN 10	1847920098
Title	The Last Stand
Author	Nathaniel Philbrick
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Vintage Publishing
Year published	2010-06-03
Number of pages	496
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable