BENTEEN'S SCOUT GIVES GREAT VISUAL ACCOUNT OF CONTRVERSIAL EVENT THAT IS RARELY EXPLORED IN DETAIL,USUALLY INACCURATELY. THIS BOOK IS A MUST-ADD TO ANY SERIOUS CUSTER COLLECTION.EXPLAINS BENTEEN'S ACTIONS AND ROUTE ALLOWING BETTER INVESTIGATION OF LITTLE BIGHORN DEBACLE.

Roger Darling has done such an excellent job that it makes one wish that you could saddle a horse and ride across the bluffs as Benteen and his battalion did after leaving the divide. While touring the LHB I was personally able to see where Benteen turned to the left on his scout on what appears to be pretty broken county. Darling's logical determinations finds the three lines of bluffs that Lt. Gibson and his platoon crossed including his final viewing point on the thrd bluff before returning to Benteen and the Battalion in a valley and starting the oblique to the right to join Custer. Excellent four page fold out of a detailed map of the route indicating landmarks, and the geography of the land including elevations, streams, valleys, the morass etc. Although Custer sent messengers to Benteen authorizing him to advance to the next bluff, Darling makes an excellent case that Benteen the expert soildier failed to inform Custer by courier that he found no Indians in the LBH valley to the south or that he was progressing for a return to Custer. Darling notes the land is not as rough as generaly perceived and the book continues to make one think that Benteen could have been a major contributor to Custer's final scene whether the conclusion would have been different is a major question. Short book in pages but concise detail with lots of pictures and the outstanding map.

The book should read to "Letters by Theo. Goldin" to and from various different people, E.A. Brinistool, Albert Johnson, Phillip Cole, Fred Dustin and eventually Capt Frederick Benteen. Most of the letters were written when Goldin was very old and blind. Interesting insight into Benteen and a scathing by Benteen of Custer and his preported "conduct". Worth the reading if you truely "understand" what happened on June 25th 1876. Not for the first time reader... you'll be lost within a matter of pages unless you understand the "who, what and where" of different people.

This book is the printing with minimal commentary of letters between Goldin and Benteen. Frederick Benteen was an officer and Goldin an enlisted man in the Seventh Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Correspondence between officer and enlisted man is unique in itself. In the case of first hand participants their direct insights into events is always fascinating. This book does not answer any outstanding questions but it does add insights especially relative to Benteen. Anyone interested in the history of the Seventh Cavalry and the personality of Frederick Benteen, a major participant in the Little Big Horn scenario will be interested in this book.

Although I have some serious problems with Kraft's assertion that Custer and Meotzi were lovers (a "fact" that has never been established beyond reasonable doubt), his book does present Custer the cautious commander, *negotiating* with Indians and avoiding bloodshed with same even at the cost of some of his men's admiration.

Louis Kraft's book, CUSTER AND THE CHEYENNE, deftly takes the reader through George Armstrong Custer's 1868-1869 winter campaign against the Southern Cheyennes. The manuscript begins with the events that led up to Custer's court-martial, banishment, return to active duty and the Battle of the Washita. Surprisingly, the battle marks the beginning of military operations and not the end. In this beautifully illustrated and designed book, Mr. Kraft explores the rest of the campaign in detail: mainly Custer's trek onto the Staked Plains of Texas with two regiments (Seventh U.S. Cavalry and Nineteenth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry) that had one goal--kill Indians. Mr. Kraft makes it clear that Custer refused to bow to his men's wishes. Instead he used good judgement and acted prudently in his dealings with the Native Americans, eventually rescuing two white women and concluding the campaign without further bloodshed.

Although Custer's actions during his peaceful roundup of the recalcitrant Cheyennes are little known and certainly do not fit the general population's clichéd view of him, few will challenge Mr. Kraft's scholarship and careful citation. He mixes the finest primary sources available with Cheyenne oral tradition. Mr. Kraft's fluid and dramatic writing style breathes life into the participants, making this one of the best books ever written about the Indian wars.

A psychiatrist's view of Custer is quite interesting as the author brigs full focus on Custer's up bringing and environment and how it effected up. Also covers the unique relationship that Custer had with his wife, an inseperable dependent relationship.
The author gives a brief history of the campaign that is a little naive based on more recent reserach. The author defines Cuser's need for rash behavior but I think the jury is still out on what Custer was attempting to do at the LBH. If he he stopped short of the LBH to attempt to regroup wit all his battalions that would be a logical action after he became aware that Reno evacuated from the valley unfortunately in a rout. The failure was capitolized by a very late attempt to follow Custer's trail by two malcontent subordinates. A fascinating book nevertheless but I think taking a more detailed look at Custer's action at the LBH takes more thought which could have given the book a boost. One has to remember that the Indians were suppose to run and the Colonel that failed to sustain an attack for Crook that March was almost court martialed.

I rated this book a 5-star for the simple reason of its
uniqueness. What a great approach by the author. Let's face
facts about Custer & the Little Bighorn. There are only so
many angles you can take on telling and retelling of what
historians and others think happened.
Charles Hofling takes another approach in that he analyzes
Custer's personality. He looks at how different periods of his
life and career were affected by events that happened to him.
I especially like Chapter 10 of this book in which he goes into
some detail on these events.
This book greatly adds another view and perspective to the
vast amount of Custer literature.

When I bought this book I was looking for serious military/historical chronology of what happened at the Little Big Horn that hot Sunday of July in 1876. This book spends exactly 12 pages explaining the battle. The rest of the book is broken into sections describing how the event affected the American Psyche. Paintings of The Last Stand, poerty describing The Last Stand, novels, movies and jokes related to The Last Stand are all examined in depth here. There is a 12 page section of photos and illustrations. The defeat of an American army in the field by Indians on the 100th birthday of The United States sent shock waves through the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition where the visiting people were studying the wonders of modern technology, convinced that nothing could stop the progress of science and thus this country's western expansion. The different views of Custer and indeed our very government can be seen by how differently the event has been portrayed by various forms of the media. As an example of this think of any movies you may have seen about the battle, the older ones are very sympathtic towards the 7th Calvalry, showing the Indians as blood thirsty savages while the newer crop of films has reversed the roles of who was the blood thirsty savage. If you are looking for a hard core military examination of the battle pass on the book, if you are interested in an unusual study of the American response to an event no one ever expected, one which continues to fascinate us to this day, this book is for you.

I read this book over the summer, and enjoyed it thoroughly. I may be biased (I have had classes under Dr. Dippie) but I found the book to be well thought out and a very fascinating look at a branch of American history that a lot of people forget about when they get concerned with who did what when. This book deals with the development of the American mythology, and is a delight to read. I highly recommend it.

This book is a good technical summary of Microsofts NTFS, but it lacks the technical depth necessary to really document NTFS. If you want to know how how NTFS works, this book is for you. If you want the detail necessary to write an implementation of NTFS, sorry, you're out of luck

Not sure why its out of print. It's an excellent in-depth look at NTFS for us Administrators and Users. Just the right size and well written.

Looks like Helen's other book is huge and probably too much for me.

This is possibly the most complete work on the actual Battle of the Little Big Horn. Mr. Kuhlman presents his evidence very convincingly. More like reading a text book, it is sometimes hard to stay focused, but is a must read for anyone with more than a basic knowledge of the battle.

This is a great book by one of the classic researchers on Custer. Interesting to note that Kuhlman was a historian by profession whose deafness caused him to retire eventualy living near Billings a short hour drive from the Little Bighorn. Kuhlman probably spent more hours on the field than any other Custer writer which is quite a contrast to one of the greatest Custer writers of the early to mid 1900s , Colonel Graham who never visited the field. Kuhlman lacks the more recent knowledge of the archeological evidence and the story behind the accidental placement of the extra 40 grave markers but his reasoning of what and why events unfolded is fascinating. Bold opinions supported by facts in most cases make the book a pleasure, Kuhlman acknowledges that Benteen never had a good word for anyone and that he exagerated for his own benefit but states honestly that Custer respected him as a soldier and expected him to close up and support him. As Pohanka writes, Kuhlman conflicts with modern contemporaries in reasoning that Custer sent three companies south to Calhoun Hill to create a bridgehead to Benteen only after sighting him at Weir Point (as opposed to having stopped their much earlier while Custer and E & F moved forward). However, the thought that Custer slowed and stayed on the eastern side of the River after Reno's collapse makes good sense particularly if a reunification was expected. Kuhlman describes the Indian way of fighting extremely well and like another contemporary, suggests that the main attack ocurred near Custer Hill to it's west versus nearer Calhoun Hill as others state. Strong defense that Custer did not disobey his orders and he proves that General Terry's protective staff officer and relative exagerated the length of forced marches that Custer took and he demonstrates how Custer not sending a Scout to Terry made littl difference in the broad perspective of the events. More detail maps would have helped Kuhlman's finite description of the field as he provides minute details that a map would have conveyed much clearaer.

Called by Frederick Benteen, "My Lie on the Plains" this is Custer's personal description of his adventures on the Plains. Of necessity it minimizes his Court Martial and other acts of ommission and commission because of Custer's self-view. Notwithstanding this the book gives insights into the psychology of a man who wished to become a legend and did. Any student of Plains History and Custer's part in it, must certainly read the man's own words.

This book lets the reader into the mind of one of America's most fascinating military men, George A. Custer. He shows his talent for writing and vividly paints a picture of what life was like on the Western Plains. This book is a MUST for any student of the Old West or military historian.

I bought this book about the famous inquiry of Major Reno who was accused of cowardice at the battle of Little Bighorn. It was fine. However, anybody who would be interested in this book might as well go all the way and get Ron Nichols' version of the Inquiry. That's why I gave the Graham abstract a 4. Nichols has taken the unpublished manuscript (from the National Archives?) and copied it down word-for-word so you get the whole enchilada, not Graham's edited version. I couldn't find Nichols book on Amazon.com but it's out there somewhere. I got my copy from the Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association. Perhaps someone at Amazon.com will read this review and make Mr. Nichols' heftier compilation available.

This book belongs on the shelf of all students of the LBH battle. The trouble is that the testimony is such a tease. The tough questions were not asked, or not allowed to be asked. Larry Sklenar in "To Hell with Honor" in essence called the whole inquiry a sham, that Lieutenant George Wallace committed perjury to cover for Reno, and the other survivors who testified were just interested in putting it all behind them, or protecting the Army from a military-phobic Congress. I agree that it is an interesting read, but reading it is like a hungry man looking at a chocolate cake but not being allowed a bite.

A surprisingly good read. W. A. Graham's well edited book of testimony is fascinating. The inquiry report was supressed for many years until Graham came along. The Reno and Benteen passages are quite revealing of the men themselves. Reno reveals what he really thinks of Custer and Benteen's sarcasm concerning Custer's order for him on that day is so apparent one wishes he was challenged more on the stand. Benteen's reasons for his delay are quite astonishing. Those well familiar with the LBH will appreciate some of the between the lines testimony of the officers. Varnum (chief of scouts) and civilians describe the retreat from the valley as a rout and but the other officers are reluctant to critizise. Graham's editing and Pohanka's introduction enrich the book by providing more background information.

A well-written summary of more than a decade's analysis of battlefield archeology. Fascinating identification of several bodies from a few bones, especially those well-know persons who were found in sites other than where eyewittnesses placed them in written history. The book suffers, however, by a brief and weak synopsis that fails in its attempt to draw too-broad conclussions about the entire frontier population from a few soldiers' bones.

This was a superbly written volume outlining the archaeological reclaimation of the battlefield site of the Little Big Horn. A military archeologist (Scott), a forensic archeologist (Conner), and a forensics anthropologist (Willey) combined talents to preserve and identify the material evidence of the events that took place there after a wildfire stripped the scene of vegitation and exposed the site to erosive processes and human curiosity. The book details: 1) the history of the 7th Cavalry, including among other things, the age of the soldiers, their origin, and length of service, 2) the efforts to identify individual soldiers and the location of their fall in battle, 3) the effect of the rigorous life on the frontier on the health of the soldiers, 4) etc. I found particularly interesting the efforts to reconstruct the facial features of some of the skulls in an effort to identify the remains with specific people. This is a good text of archaeology at work.

This book describes all of the human remains found on the Little Bighorn battlefield and even gives positive identifications of a handful of them. This is also the only book where you can find analysis and information on the bones found on Reno Hill in 1958, and other bones and skeletons found from 1877 to the mid-20th century. Don't be dismayed by the scholarly subject matter - it is well-written and the prose is clear. The only criticism I must offer is the attempt to make far-reaching conclusions about 19th century American life in the West from what can be deduced from their bones. This was unconvincing because I didn't think there were enough bones available to justify any such hypotheses.