Sticking to the Wild West theme and tying into Pattie Abbot's Forgotten book initiative I'm looking at Custer, a faction by Will Henry which was originally published in 1999.
I'm a big fan of this writer and have read most of his other novels set around historical figures - his back list looks like a who's who of western frontier figures. And I often think that one can often learn more from a fictionalised telling of history than from the history books themselves. Certainly reading of a character in this way means that the character comes across, depending on the amount of homework the author's done, as a flesh and blood person.
This book is actually the author's two Custer books - Yellow Hair which looks at his early life and Custer's Last Stand which looks at his tragic but inevitable fate. The books have been seamlessly edited together to appear as the one volume.
Feared by the Indians, feared by his own men, George Armstrong Custer would stop at nothing to achieve personal glory. But the daring commander of the 7th Calvary would find his lasting fame in his final defeat, which remains the greatest Indian victory in the entire Indian Wars.
It a great book - well written and I did come away from it feeling that I had a greater understanding of the man behind the legend.
VISIT PATTIE'S SITE FOR MORE FORGOTTEN BOOKS
6 comments:
Will Henry has always been good and when writing 'faction' seems to get into the skin of the character.
Another great FFB's review@
His 'The Last Warpath' is still one of my favourites.
Nik (Ross Morton)
Custer sounds first-rate and that's an interesting take on learning more from fiction than a bio. I will have to give that a little more thought... BLACK GUN, SILVER STAR a bio of Bass Reeves arrived today and I'm excited to get started on a forgotten hero of the old west.
David - I find that I absorb information from a faction far more easily than a bio. If the writer's done his job well you feel as if you've come to know the character,
Thanks for another great book to add to the never-ending list of book to be read.
Post a Comment