Book review: "Terrible Glory"

-BOOK REVIEW -

A NEW CLASSIC

Review by custerwest.org member Bill Rini, Moderator of the Little Big Horn Associates Message Board, Indian War Reenactor, and Myles Keogh Living Historian.

A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn - the Last Great Battle of the American West, by James Donovan (Little, Brown and Company, 2008), $17.81

A Terrible Glory by James Donovan is and excellent read and a wonderful introductory book for the serious student interested in the Indian War period of American History.

I would not call this an introductory book on the Battle of the Little Big Horn, as it is far more than that. It is by far and away the best written and researched book on the overall story of the battle and the events leading up to it since Son Of The Morning Star by Evan Connell. In fact, I found it to be better written, more organized and better researched than Connell's book, which was a very pleasant surprise. 

An impressive addition to this book is the voluminous endnotes and extensive bibliography whereby the author attempts to reconstruct the battle from numerous first hand sources and eye-witnesses. In so doing, he is able to unravel many of the controversies and debates that continuously plague the world of 'Custeriana'. The endnotes are detailed and interesting to read. They add much depth to the story and justification for the authors conclusions. Rarely will one read a history book with such a wealth of information detailed and presented in such an organized context to enhance the reader's understanding of what happened and why. 

There are some minor errors found in the book. At one point, the author refers to James Porter as a 2nd Lieutenant with little or no experience in the 7th Cavalry. In fact, Porter was a 1st Lieutenant with 6 years of field experience with his regiment. Other minor points mistake Custer's camp on Davis Creek as being 8 miles from the Crow's Nest, whereas it was closer to half that distance. He also mistakenly identified Custer's battle wounds as being on his right side (p. 276) which he then corrects on p. 308 by mentioning that they were on his left side. A serious publishing error occurs in Chapter 16's endnotes, several of which are out of order and one missing. 

Notwithstanding, these errors for the most part are inconsequential to the understanding of the general public and do not take away from the otherwise excellent research that went into the writing of this soon to be classic work. The author's reconstruction of the events leading up to the battle, and his insight into the behavior and motivations of the major characters involved are superb. 

His description of the battle itself is very well done and follows closely with the latest research based on Indian accounts and archaeological research. In short, A Terrible Glory is an excellent and well written narrative on the Battle of the Little Big Horn and well suited for any student of history who wishes to known more about what happened to Custer at Little Big Horn and why.

James Donovan has written a true masterpiece, a work that places him at the forefront of those who have attempted to tell the tale of this fascinating and complex period of American History.

A job well done.


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