Son of the Morning Star: General Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn [Paperback]

On June 25, 1876, General George Armstrong Custer and some 200 cavalrymen under his command blundered into a steep-sided ravine along the banks of Montana's Little Bighorn River. They never came out; several thousand Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho warriors saw to that. The name and the event of the Little Bighorn have subsequently entered into American mythology, reverberating throughout the nation's history. Custer's famous demise has yielded thousands of books, and Son of the Morning Star is exceptional among them: part anthropological study of Plains Indian life, part military history, and part character study of the principal actors in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Evan Connell's work presents the first truly balanced account of Custer's career.

'General George Armstrong Custer was a brave, ambitious, stupid cavalryman. Bravely, ambitiously and stupidly he rode with under 70 troopers into the greatest war party the Indians ever assembled in North America, mustering some 20,000 braves. He and his band were wiped out. Evan S. Connell is a novelist and he has brought a novelist's audacity to the construction of "Son of The Morning Star", a civilized and compassionate history. This is a magnificent book' - "Financial Times". 'Custer's Last Stand' is amongst the most enduring events in American history - more than a hundred years after the fact, books continue to be written and people continue to argue about even the most basic details surrounding the Little Bighorn. Evan S. Connell, whom Joyce Carol Oates has described as 'one of our most interesting and intelligent American writers', wrote what continues to be the most reliable - and compulsively readable - account of the subject. Connell makes good use of his research and novelist's eye for story and detail to recreate the heroism, foolishness and savagery of this crucial chapter in the history of the West.

One of the greatest works of the American West - 'A new American classic.' Time --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

General George Armstrong Custer was a brave, ambitious, stupid cavalryman. Bravely, ambitiously and stupidly he rode with under 70 troopers into the greatest war party the Indians ever assembled in North America, mustering some 20, 000 braves. He and his band were wiped out. . Evan S. Connell is a novelist and he has brought a novelist's audacity to the construction of Son of the Morning Star, a civilized and compassionate history. This is a magnificent book. ' Financial Times
Custer's Last Stand is amongst the most enduring events in American history - more than a hundred years after the fact, books continue to be written and people continue to argue about even the most basic details surrounding the Little Bighorn. Evan S. Connell, whom Joyce Carol Oates has described as 'one of our most intersting and intelligent American writers', wrote what continues to be the most reliable - and compulsively readable - account of the subject. Connell makes good use of his research and novelist's eye for story and detail to recreate the heroism, foolishness and savagery of this crucial chapter in the history of the West.
'A new American classic.' Time
'Son of the Morning Star fits into none of the classifications of books about Custer. It is unique and for that reason should endure.' Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
'A scintillating book, thoroughly researched and brilliantly constructed.' Wall Street Journal
'Vivid and evocative. It leaves the reader astonished.' Washington Post

Evan S. Connell, long recognised as one of the most important American literary voices, is the author of seventeen books, including Mrs. Bridge, Mr. Bridge, Deus lo Volt: A Chronicle of the Crusades and El Dorado & Other Pursuits (both available in Pimlico). He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (20040624) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.