The book "Custer" by Pulitzer-prize winning author Larry McMurtry and published by Simon and Schuster, should have been a great read on a very interesting topic, but it wasn't.
McMurtry won his Pulitzer for his bestselling novel "Lonesome Dove," which was made into a movie about the old West by the same name. Other notable books written by McMurtry were "The Last Picture Show" and "Brokeback Mountain," also made into movies. Unlike those books, "Custer" was anything but notable.
Classified as a biography, "Custer" was more in the format of a history book than a bio. In it, McMurtry gives sketchy backgrounds of all the major players leading up to, during, and immediately following the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
Worth the purchase price of the book, however, were the numerous color plates of photos and paintings depicting several battles of the Indian Wars, including the massacre of Washita. Wounded Knee is also discussed very briefly and in very little detail, but there are no drawings of that included.
There was some very interesting information on Libbie Custer, Gen. George Armstrong Custer's wife, and their lifestyle during the Indian campaigns. But they were, once again, very sketchy and did not go into much detail.
This book does not read like a novel or a biography, and is a little hard to stay with as the author moves between very short informational paragraphs on such great historical figures as Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, American Horse, Ulysses Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Major Marcus Reno and Major Frederick Benteen, the two commanders under Custer at the Little Bighorn who survived with some of their troops by retreating when they saw a solid wall of warriors attacking them. I would have liked to have learned more about all of these men, but nothing in this book is discussed at any length or in any detail, and I think that is what I liked the least.
There is nothing graphic in this book, not even in the color plates, and nothing inappropriate for readers of any age. This book is historically accurate, as far as I can tell, and does look at the battle as a huge mistake on the part of Custer, so it would be appropriate to use as a learning tool for a young student of history. And, as I mentioned before, the photographs and paintings are breathtaking, and tell more of the story than the author himself. Because of these things, I give the book 6 out of 10, but unless you want it for the photos or the history lesson, I would not recommend buying it. Go to your local library and check it out. It is well worth the time to do that just to see the wonderful artwork.
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