I love kindle. She makes my life better and a great way to keep and enjoy a personal library.
A couple of musts:
We didnt do them right but damn those Comanches weren’t afraid and were some rough characters.
I read Bury My Heart in high school and it totally changed the way I saw that period of history. I've also realized that a biography of Jackie Robinson I read from the elementary school library, at 11 or so, had a profound influence on my views in that direction. Reading opens worlds.
I don’t know that you can find a better book on the subject matter than “Crazy Horse and Custer” by Stephen Ambrose. Another outstanding treatment is “The Last Stand” by Nathaniel Philbrick. I am currently reading “Killing Crazy Horse,” which is part of the famous Killing” series by Bill O’Reilly. It’s good too and covers America’s genocide of Native Americans from the start. It details how the Comanches dominated the Southwest. They ruled and were absolutely barbaric even to other Indian nations.
Philbrick has been a find for me. I started somebody else's book on the Mayflower and after 150 pages they hadn't gotten on the boat. Switched to Philbrick's and loved it. James Horn's Land as God Made It is a good one on Jamestown, and he's written one of the Lost Colony of Roanoke I want to read.
You should take that book with a grain of salt. Believe me, I’ve done a ton of reading on the subject, some from sources on the Rez. I’ve been to the Rez. Matthiessen was a hack with an agenda. Typical liberal treatment rather than balanced. Do yourself a favor and read “American Indian Mafia” by Trimbach. He was the SAIC at Wounded Knee and he provides evidence that thoroughly refutes much of Matthiessen. Also, take the time to dig into the murder of Anna Mae Aquash on the Rez. You’ll learn to believe Trimbauch and just how much of a cesspool the AIM was in the 70s. Aquash is dead because Leonard Peltier told her he killed the two FBI agents. Peltier is guilty as sin and is right where he belongs. The Robert Redfords of the world have shut up about him because the truth on the Rez is that Peltier did it.
Philbrick is thorough but delightful. But, dude, read the Ambrose book. So much detail and richness.
Philbrick is very good; read both Mayflower and the Last Stand. Got two new ones for Christmas by him about Revolutionary War - Valiant Ambition and Bunker Hill.
I highly recommend Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides; nice overview of the West with focus on Kit Casrson. He akso wote Hellhound on His Trail, an excellent book about the manhunt for MLK assassin James Earl Ray.
Kindle is the devil. I am on my third one. Thought it would save space (our 2000 + books take up a lot of room). But I also thought it would save money. The opposite is true. It is so easy to download any book that I find remotely interesting that I just do it. Over 1000 Kindle books and counting later I can officially say it has only saved me furniture money and the need for a bigger house to hold the shelves.
Settle your bleeding heart, it worked both ways. Ever wonder how they got hold of that land to begin with?
I finished it a couple of days ago, would also recommend it.
Do you have the Libby app? I got a library card here in Oakland and entered it into the Libby app. I can checkout books and send them to my kindle for free. I’m sure I’ll end up buying some but I haven’t paid a dime for a book yet
Yeah, a lot of these books detail the relationship of the European settlers to the natives. Read about what the natives did to each other. The European settlers were better at waging war in a time where that’s just what men did.
Checkout Blood Meridian and also The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy. If you like those then you ll probably like all his other books. He’s my favorite author along with Charles Bukowski.
Charles Bukowski? We have to get together when I visit Savannah. "All the Assholes in the World and Mine" is hilarious. Not for everyone, though.
Charles Bukowski is definitely not for everyone. Certainly not for the easily offended but he’s funny as hell. Thanks for the tip on the book. I just bought it off Amazon for $12.99.
Fiction, but McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove" quadrilogy : Dead Man's Walk, Comanche Moon, Lonesome Dove and Streets of Lorado, features the Comanche prominently. and are all great books--- Call & Gus didn't want NONE of Buffalo Hump.
Tip: When buying books, ck Thrift Books and/or secondsale, first. Thank me later.
I was very surprised at how good "Killing Crazy Horse" was. All the Killing books have been good history books.
Black Elk Speaks by John Niehardt. Black Elk was Crazy Horse’s cousin and fought with him at Little Bighorn. This book was written in 1932 after Niehardt interviewed Black Elk on several different occasions.” (He was in 70s at the time). Black Elk was a big medicine man for the Ogalala Sioux. It’s a great book and for anyone interested in the Plains Indian way of life; it can’t be beat.
Factotum, Ham on Rye and South of No North are three of my favorite works of literature. Bukowski is great (I always thought he was really funny).
Learn something about our invention of Total War and our adherence to the Doctrine of Discover and see if you still feel this way. The lack of introspection you see as just a product of the times is why this country was never serious about its own core principles and will never be what it promised the world it would be.
Yeah I’m aware but $12.99 isn’t unreasonable to have it delivered. I generally just give away my paperbacks to folks at the house who show interest.
