The Killing of Crazy Horse

Reviews with Integrated Context

Books You May Like

The Killing of Crazy Horse

Author: Thomas Powers
Publisher: Knopf
Copyright: 2010
Pages: 608
Cover Price: $ 30.00

Enter a word or phrase in the box below


He was the most feared and loathed Indian of his time, earning his reputation in surprise victories against the troops of Generals Crook and Custer at the Rosebud and Little Bighorn. Despite his enduring reputation, he has remained an enigma (even the whereabouts of his burial place are unknown and no portrait or photograph of him exists).

Now, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Thomas Powers brings Crazy Horse to life in this vivid work of American history.Powers situates the critical battles won by Crazy Horse within the context of the decades-long conflict between Indian tribes and U.S. Army forces commonly called the Great Sioux Wars. He explores the complicated relationship between the tribes in particular, Crazy Horse’s Lakota Sioux and the federal authorities. And he makes clear why the few battles won by the Indians no matter the fear they left in their wake did not ultimately help them to stem the tide of settlers, gold-seekers, and buffalo hunters that flooded the Great Plains after the Civil War.

An evenhanded, indispensable account of one of the most striking figures of American history, and an essential re-creation of the army’s subjugation of the North Plains tribes.

Click for the original review.

Background Information

Crazy Horse was a leader of the Teton Sioux who struggled against white encroachment and was one of the Indian commanders in the Battle of Little Bighorn. George A. Custer was an officer during the Civil War who continued his military career in the Indian Wars until his defeat and death at Little Big Horn. The Sioux Indians were a major tribe in the Northern Great Plains, who waged a long struggle against enroachment by settlers until defeated by the US Army. The Battle of the Little Big Horn resulted in the annihilation of all the troops under the command of Col. George Custer by Sioux Indians.