In the tradition of "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, "a stunningly
vivid historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche
Indians and white settlers for control of the American West,
centering on Quanah, the greatest Comanche chief of them all.
S. C. Gwynne's "Empire of the Summer Moon"spans two astonishing
stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the
most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails
one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old
West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her
mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of
the Comanches.
Although readers may be more familiar with the tribal names
Apache and Sioux, it was in fact the legendary fighting ability of
the Comanches that determined just how and when the American West
opened up. Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six;
full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever
rode. They were so masterful at war and so skillful with their
arrows and lances that they stopped the northern drive of colonial
Spain from Mexico and halted the French expansion westward from
Louisiana. White settlers arriving in Texas from the eastern United
States were surprised to find the frontier being rolled "backward
"by Comanches incensed by the invasion of their tribal lands. So
effective were the Comanches that they forced the creation of the
Texas Rangers and account for the advent of the new weapon
specifically designed to fight them: the six-gun.
The war with the Comanches lasted four decades, in effect
holding up the development of the new American nation. Gwynne's
exhilarating account delivers a sweeping narrative that encompasses
Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of the buffalo
herds, and the arrival of the railroads--a historical feast for
anyone interested in how the United States came into being.
Against this backdrop Gwynne presents the compelling drama of
Cynthia Ann Parker, a lovely nine-year-old girl with
cornflower-blue eyes who was kidnapped by Comanches from the far
Texas frontier in 1836. She grew to love her captors and became
infamous as the "White Squaw" who refused to return until her
tragic capture by Texas Rangers in 1860. More famous still was her
son Quanah, a warrior who was never defeated and whose guerrilla
wars in the Texas Panhandle made him a legend.
S. C. Gwynne's account of these events is meticulously
researched, intellectually provocative, and, above all, thrillingly
told. "Empire of the Summer Moon "announces him as a major new
writer of American history.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
