Here are the true stories of the West's most terrible massacres—Sacramento River, Mountain Meadows, Sand Creek, Marias River, Camp Grant, and Wounded Knee, among others. These massacres involved Americans killing Indians, but also Indians killing Americans and, in the case of the currently hugely controversial Mountain Meadows Massacre in 1857, Mormons slaughtering a party of American settlers, including women and children. McMurtry's evocative descriptions of these events recall their full horror, and the deep, constant apprehension and dread endured by both pioneers and Indians. By modern standards the death tolls were often small—Custer's defeat in 1876 was the only encounter to involve more than two hundred dead—yet in the thinly populated West of that time, the violent extinction of a hundred people had a colossal impact on all sides. Though the perpetrators often went unpunished, many guilty and traumatized men felt compelled to tell and retell the horror they had committed. Nephi Johnson, one of the participants in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, died crying "Blood, blood, blood!" McMurtry's powerful prose captures the gritty essence of this tumultuous and pivotal era, and the fascinating and remarkable men and women-American and Indian, celebrated and forgotten-who shaped the West, and would kill to keep it.
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"This book is amazing, it is a very quick read, I urge anyone to read it." — Shonda (5 out of 5 stars)
"This book is amazing, it is a very quick read, I urge anyone to read it."
“Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist McMurtry…recounts six Western frontier massacres in this meandering mixture of memoir, literary criticism, jeremiad, and history.”
As always, superbly written.
“As always, superbly written.”
" Almost telegraphic writing and paltry thin chapters make the entire book feel like an introduction. It might very well be a not-bad intro to the various American battles highlighted, but the author gets a "D" for effort nonetheless. "
" A succint overview of key Native American massacres. Not particularly enlightening, but interesting nonetheless. "
" A decent introduction to some of the massacres that occured during the struggle for the West. Should ignite further research by readers. The writing is not up par with his novels, and is a bit repetitive, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. "
" I am a big Larry McMurtry Fan. This book is a simple overview of major 19th century massacres upon Native Americans. It was interesting to read about the various battles. Since this is non-fiction it is no easily identifiable as Larry McMurtry. "
" This was a good quick read.Nothing overly interesting but a good summery of the six massacres, Sacramento River, Mountain Meadows, Sand Creek, Marias River,Camp Grant and Wounded Knee. "
" The introduction lasted chapters and read like a high school term paper. The discussion of the events and circumstances of 6 lesser known old west massacres, the stated purpose of the book, was skimpy at best. That said, I managed to learn a couple of things so this book receives a bonus star. "
" I learned a little about several massacres that I had never heard of, but found him repetitious and not very informative. He spent most of the book on two events and barely touched on 3 of the others though from his intro I expected more. "
" This is basically a very brief overview of several massacres in the American West written in a very clear, concise and engaging style. "
" While this works as a history, it works better as historiography. "
Larry McMurtry (1936–2021) was an award-winning novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and avid book collector. His novels include The Last Picture Show, Terms of Endearment, and Lonesome Dove, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. He wrote more than thirty screenplays, including the coauthorship of Brokeback Mountain, for which he received an Academy Award.
Michael Prichard is a Los Angeles-based actor who has played several thousand characters during his career, over one hundred of them in theater and film. He is primarily heard as an audiobook narrator, having recorded well over five hundred full-length books. His numerous awards and accolades include an Audie Award for Tears in the Darkness by Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman and six AudioFile Earphones Awards. He was named a Top Ten Golden Voice by SmartMoney magazine. He holds an MFA in theater from the University of Southern California.
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