History Guy: Book Review:LITTLE BIGHORN REMEMBERED

The following is an excerpt from a press release by Random House, publishers of a new book on the Battle of the Little Bighorn, popularly known as "Custer's Last Stand." Random House supplied a copy of the book as consideration for mention on this website. LITTLE BIGHORN REMEMBERED by Herman J. Viola appears to be a high-quality resource for both the general reader and the student of this battle and of the Sioux Wars.

LITTLE BIGHORN REMEMBERED by Herman J. Viola

Times Books, October 1999

ISBN: 0-8129-3256-0

Little Big Horn Remembered

Lavishly illustrated with more than two hundred maps, photographs, reproductions, and drawings, this remarkable book also includes:

* An account of the battle, including startling descriptions of Custer's conduct, collected from the Crow scouts by the famed photographer Edward S. Curtis in 1908. Curtis never published this report--President Theodore Roosevelt advised him not to--and it remained a secret until his ninety-year-old son recently gave the material to the Smithsonian.

* New archaeological evidence from the battlefield that casts fresh light on the Seventh Cavalry's movements, along with discoveries from the site of Sitting Bull's village--including the complete skeleton of a cavalry horse with its rider's well-preserved saddlebags and personal items.

* A series of illustrations made soon after the battle by Red Horse, a remarkable tableau that is reproduced here in its entirety for the first time.

* Three letters written by Lieutenant William Van Wyck Reily just days before he died at Little Bighorn that provide key and potentially controversial insights into the conduct of the cavalry under Custer's command.

In short, this landmark book takes us much closer to knowing what really happened on that June day in 1876 when Custer died and a legend was born.