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Product Description
Matthew Engel, GUARDIAN
'A riveting and definitive history of the West by the man who transformed our understanding of it'
NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
'With unerring eye and unflinching irony, Brown shows how history, myth and business worked hand in hand'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A lot of the material about the Indian Wars overlaps with that in Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" but there is in addition interesting information about the cattle drives, cowboys, the colourful characters who lived and died in Abilene, Dodge City etc. I skipped quickly through the chapters on entertainments. Well worth reading but not in the same league as "Bury My Heart".
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The American West centers on three subjects: Native Americans, settlers, and ranchers. Dee Brown re-creates these groups struggles for their place in this new landscape and illuminates the history of the old West in a single volume, containing maps and vintage photographs. In his spirited telling of this national saga, Brown demonstrates once again his abilities as a storyteller and entertaining popular historian.
The American West is not an exhaustive study or history of the era, but a good starting point and introduction to a very important era of American history - if you just have a passing interest in the subject. The book does focus a lot on Native Americans and their wars and interaction with the settlers, soliders and ranchers. The other chapters in the book are quite secondary, providing a good overview of the development of the cattle industry, stories of colourful characters and events.
If you want an overview of the settling of the West, the cowboys, Native Americans, soldiers, dance hall girls, gamblers, settlers, thieves, con artists and more, this is a good start.
The American West is not an exhaustive study or history of the era, but a good starting point and introduction to a very important era of American history - if you just have a passing interest in the subject. The book does focus a lot on Native Americans and their wars and interaction with the settlers, soliders and ranchers. The other chapters in the book are quite secondary, providing a good overview of the development of the cattle industry, stories of colourful characters and events.
If you want an overview of the settling of the West, the cowboys, Native Americans, soldiers, dance hall girls, gamblers, settlers, thieves, con artists and more, this is a good start.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Dee Brown is best known for his paradigm shifting best-seller, Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West (Arena Books) first published in 1972, written with such intensity and emotion that it is hard for a white American to read it without at least once the eyes watering up, in shame. Prior to that book, I, and many other Americans saw the settling of the West by the white man as one glorious enterprise. We had seen all too many "Westerners" on TV, with the wagon train filled with "innocent" white settlers being attacked by "savages," for no apparent reason. As is now revealed in narratives about the coming-of-age experience of many real Indians, the propaganda was so effective that EVEN the Indians who watched these shows would root for the cowboys. After his book, and much too late (and perhaps that is the real reason) many Americans realized there were numerous flaws in this mythology, which include a long string of broken treaties.
For no other than the above reasons, Brown's "The American West" deserves much consideration. The book is not "scholarly," which could be a recommendation for many, since that particular genre has its own flaws. Does it have an Indian "bias," as one reviewer charged, without giving a specific example? Well, if raising the issue of shredded treaties is "bias," Brown is guilty. And there is no unifying theme; it is a series of vignettes that focus on portions of the settlement experience, and include `whites only' stories, such as "The Saga of Dodge City" and "The Myth and its Makers."
Simply the pictures and the maps make the book a worthwhile purchase. The maps clearly show the various territories allocated to the Indians, with their changes over time. Many of the significant Indian-US Army battles are represented with their own maps. As for the pictures, they range from an evocative one of Sarah Bernhardt in the Opera House in St. Joseph, Missouri, to the baseball team in eastern Oregon in the late 1880's to the twisted corpse of Big Foot, the Sioux leader, frozen in the snow.
As one might suspect, it is the stories about the Indians in which Brown excels. There are a couple on the Sioux, there is one on the "Lords of the Plain," the Comanche, as well as the Kiowa and the Cheyennes. There is also one on Geronimo, and his surrender and life thereafter selling buttons from his coat. Naturally there is Sitting Bull, and most deserving of his fate, General Custer, and the battle at the Little Bighorn. The author also briefly covers the essence of his more famous book, which was the Ghost Dance at Wounded Knee. But of all the stories, the most heart-breaking is the story of Joseph of the Nez Percés, and his eventual submission to the authority of the white man. "The earth is our mother," said Joseph. We cannot sell you our mother." "When he fell suddenly dead on autumn day in 1904, his friends said that he had died of a broken heart."
The book also includes an excellent time line of the major event in the West, primarily after the Civil War, as well as a fine bibliography, since so many stories serve as a catalyst to learn more. Overall, a solid 5-star read.
(Note: Review first published at Amazon, USA, on December 28, 2009)
For no other than the above reasons, Brown's "The American West" deserves much consideration. The book is not "scholarly," which could be a recommendation for many, since that particular genre has its own flaws. Does it have an Indian "bias," as one reviewer charged, without giving a specific example? Well, if raising the issue of shredded treaties is "bias," Brown is guilty. And there is no unifying theme; it is a series of vignettes that focus on portions of the settlement experience, and include `whites only' stories, such as "The Saga of Dodge City" and "The Myth and its Makers."
Simply the pictures and the maps make the book a worthwhile purchase. The maps clearly show the various territories allocated to the Indians, with their changes over time. Many of the significant Indian-US Army battles are represented with their own maps. As for the pictures, they range from an evocative one of Sarah Bernhardt in the Opera House in St. Joseph, Missouri, to the baseball team in eastern Oregon in the late 1880's to the twisted corpse of Big Foot, the Sioux leader, frozen in the snow.
As one might suspect, it is the stories about the Indians in which Brown excels. There are a couple on the Sioux, there is one on the "Lords of the Plain," the Comanche, as well as the Kiowa and the Cheyennes. There is also one on Geronimo, and his surrender and life thereafter selling buttons from his coat. Naturally there is Sitting Bull, and most deserving of his fate, General Custer, and the battle at the Little Bighorn. The author also briefly covers the essence of his more famous book, which was the Ghost Dance at Wounded Knee. But of all the stories, the most heart-breaking is the story of Joseph of the Nez Percés, and his eventual submission to the authority of the white man. "The earth is our mother," said Joseph. We cannot sell you our mother." "When he fell suddenly dead on autumn day in 1904, his friends said that he had died of a broken heart."
The book also includes an excellent time line of the major event in the West, primarily after the Civil War, as well as a fine bibliography, since so many stories serve as a catalyst to learn more. Overall, a solid 5-star read.
(Note: Review first published at Amazon, USA, on December 28, 2009)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great US History Book . Easy to Read.
I have been fascinated by US history for a long time and this book is easy to read and gives an unbiased history of The American West. Read more
Published 7 days ago by J. Haycraft
This is a Superb Book
I thoroughly enjoyed this book . Dee Brown writes well and brings his subject wonderfully to life . Whether you want to learn about indians , cowboys , ranchers , saloon girls , he... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Terry J
Great book.
This book is a must for anyone interested in the old American west. It's a great account of the history of the west and is delivered in a way that makes you feel like you are... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mr. Luke J. Simmons
This bok is a excellent book and is very educational
This is a excellent and a first class book you can refer to it when you need some infomation about thr amercian west and can get it out of it. Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2000
The Wild West Comes to Life!
The audio set of Dee Brown's The American West brings to life the characters and personalities that made the wild west an exciting and at times dangerous place to live. Read more
Published on 5 May 1998
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