A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn - the Last Great Battle of the American West | 
 enlarge | Author: James Donovan
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: $26.99
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Rating:  56 reviews
Sales Rank: 4486
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 544
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.6
ISBN: 0316155780
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.82
EAN: 9780316155786
ASIN: 0316155780
Publication Date: March 24, 2008
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Condition: Brand new item. Over 4 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: H20081114205835T
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In June of 1876, on a desolate hill above a winding river called "the Little Bighorn," George Armstrong Custer and all 210 men under his direct command were annihilated by almost 2,000 Sioux and Cheyenne. The news of this devastating loss caused a public uproar, and those in positions of power promptly began to point fingers in order to avoid responsibility. Custer, who was conveniently dead, took the brunt of the blame.
The truth, however, was far more complex. A TERRIBLE GLORY is the first book to relate the entire story of this endlessly fascinating battle, and the first to call upon all the significant research and findings of the past twenty-five years--which have changed significantly how this controversial event is perceived. Furthermore, it is the first book to bring to light the details of the U.S. Army cover-up--and unravel one of the greatest mysteries in U.S. military history.
Scrupulously researched, A TERRIBLE GLORY will stand as ta landmark work. Brimming with authentic detail and an unforgettable cast of characters--from Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse to Ulysses Grant and Custer himself--this is history with the sweep of a great novel.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 51 more reviews...
 One of the best December 1, 2008
books on the battle of the Little Big Horn, and I have read them all!
Its great any time true versions of historic events are told...this does justice to this battle and I recommend it for any student of history.
beyond heart-wrenching October 18, 2008
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
I finished this book last nite. Gads, what did we do? How was this extermination of the Indians allowed by a loving god, let alone by us Christian white people? I wonder we can live with ourselves. I know it's easy to judge the dead, the times and dangers were so different,..still I can't believe our policy, even our glory, was to kill women and children and old men. As a Republican white middle class guy,..after reading this book I just feel tremendously ashamed. Like I committed a murder and never got punished for it. I want to make amends for what we did to the native americans. I want to take my family to Little Big Horn Park, ..I want to show my kids the whole story from both sides. Thank you, author, for an exceptional labor of love in this very moving book.
 Poor Account of Little Bighorn Battle October 13, 2008
4 out of 16 found this review helpful
Terrible Glory -- good name for a terrible book. If you are looking for someone pimping for Custer and Benteen this is the book for you. Custer can do almost nothing wrong and Reno can do almost nothing right. According to this book Reno was drunk most of the time during the Little Bighorn battle -- except Reno saved most of his command and Custer lost all of his. Save your money.
"Courage, boys, we've got them" September 24, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
"Courage, boys, we've got them." These are reported to have been among the last known words of George Armstrong Custer as he lead 210 men of the U.S. 7th Cavalry into combat with more than a 1,000 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors.
"A Terrible Glory" is James Donovan's 388-page account of the principle Indian and non-Indian characters and their actions in the events leading up to, during and after the legendary Battle of the Little Bighorn on 25 June 1876. Donovan documents his fast moving, well crafted but almost matter of fact narrative with 83 pages of footnotes and a 24-page bibliography. There are also generalized maps showing troop movements and the location of events (most of which, apart from the largest one reproduced three times - on both end pages and just after the title page - being too small to easily read) and 48 photographs of American soldiers, civilian, Crow and Arikara army scouts and Sioux war chiefs.
In addition to his detailed telling of the 25 June combat itself, among the more interesting aspects of the story as told by Donovan, in my opinion, are:
1. The role and character of Custer's civilian, Crow and Arikara scouts: they all warned Custer that the Sioux gathering was the largest assembly of Indian warriors they had ever seen and advised him - to no effect - that it was too dangerous for him to engage such a large force. All reportedly acquitted themselves well according to their assigned tasks and the army's expectations.
2. Custer's failure to learn from prior experience leading the 7th against Indians in the Battle of Washita eight years earlier: in that action Custer skirted disaster - and lost a number of men who were detached from the main force - because he attacked without adequate reconnaissance and divided his tired troops. That experience failed to prevent him from making the same mistakes on a larger sale in 1876.
3. The lack of training and readiness among the majority of the 7th's troops: according to Donovan many of the soldiers had little or no competence in marksmanship or horsemanship, and the 7th's officers made no systematic attempt to train them prior to the 1876 campaign.
4. The whitewash of Major Reno's drunkenness and poor behavior at the Little Bighorn at the army's official 1879 court of inquiry: due to an apparent desire to preserve their regiment's honor and their personal reputations - at the expense of Custer's and that of the other men who died - the 7th's officers lied or disingenuously shaded the truth about Reno in contrast to their damning descriptions of Reno in newspaper interviews, reported conversations and private letters that have since come to light.
5. It was the 7th Cavalry, under some of the same officers who fought at Little Bighorn, that committed atrocities - that were whitewashed by the official inquiry - at Wounded Knee in 1890, apparently in an act of revenge for their prior defeat by the Sioux.
My conclusion is that "A Terrible Glory" provides an interesting and reasonably comprehensive and balanced account of Custer's last stand that will satisfy the needs of non-historians seeking an understanding of the events and context of "last great battle of the American West". Highly recommended.
 You will be influenced by this book. September 15, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a well-documented reference that provides an interesting insight into the political workings and influences within the U.S. army at this time in history. It also provides a sad awareness of the utterly irresponsible actions of the U.S. government, and the "White Man" in general, as it pertains to the treatment of the native Indian tribes of North America------a sad tale of how "The end justifies the means." seemed to be the operational motto for the U.S. government.
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