- Paperback: 624 pages
- Publisher: Anchor; Reprint edition (Oct 9 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1400031109
- ISBN-13: 978-1400031108
- Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 3.2 x 20.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 590 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #108,530 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Although delivering little in the way of new information, Sides, an Outside magazine editor-at-large and bestselling author (Ghost Soldiers), eloquently paints the landscape and history of the 19th-century Southwest, combining Larry McMurtry's lyricism with the historian's attachment to facts. Inevitably, Sides's main focus is the virtual decimation of the Navajo nation from the 1820s to the late 1860s. Sides depicts the complex role of whites in the subjugation of the Navajos through his portrait of Kit Carson—an illiterate trapper, soldier and scout who knew the Native Americans intimately, married two of them and, without blinking, participated in the Indians' slaughter. Books about Carson have been numerous, but Sides is better than most Carson biographers in setting his exploits against a larger backdrop: the unstoppable idea of manifest destiny. Of course, as counterpoint to the progress of Carson and other whites, Sides details the fierce but doomed defense mounted by the Navajos over long decades. This culminated in their final, desperate "stand" during 1863 at Canyon de Chelly, more than a decade after a contingent of federal troops—operating under a commander whose last name of "Washington" seems ironic in this context—killed their great leader, Narbona. (Oct. 3)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
The American conquest and settlement of the Southwest and California were the opening salvos in the drive to fufill our "manifest destiny" to dominate the continent. Sides, a magazine editor and historian who lives in New Mexico, has written an enthralling account that concentrates on the period that begins with the Mexican War and ends with the forced "roundup" of the Navajo at the Canyon de Chelly. This is not a straight narrative history. Rather, Sides advances this epic story by providing wonderful portraits of some of the key participants in the saga, including Stephen Kearny, John Fremont, the Navajo warrior Narbona, and Senator Thomas Hart Benton. But at the center of this chronicle is the famed mountain man, scout, and entrepreneur, Kit Carson. As portrayed by Sides, Carson was a study in contradictions. Illiterate but extremely intelligent, Carson respected Indians and took two Indian wives, but he could act as a cold-blooded killer when government policy required action against Indians. This work will be an excellent addition to collections on western history. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
blood and thunder,
By
This review is from: Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West (Paperback)
I thought 'blood and thunder'was an absolutely wonderful book .Mr Sides has a very interesting subject -the,at times, somewhat sad story of the development of the American west but he tells it wonderfully.There is a cast of interesting characters including of course Kit Carson himself,Narbona the Navajo chief,Carleton and many others.The story never flags.One of those books one wants to read again some day.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enlightening read on the history of the southwest.,
By
This review is from: Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West (Paperback)
Not a big reader of history but this book held me spellbound. From the amazing life of Kit Carson to destruction of the great Navajo nation this book takes you back to time in the USA when manifest destiny was the watch word. You meet, and get to know, many of the iconic figures of the time: Fremont, Steven Watts Kearny, the great Navajo Chief Narbona. There are some sad lessons of history here but also some heroic figures.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The results of manifest destiny. . .,
By
This review is from: Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West (Hardcover)
This is a beautifully written book that takes epic form in retelling the settling of the American southwest from 1820 through the 1860s. From the Mexican war to the removal of the Navajo from Canyon de Chelly, Hampton Sides writes an engaging account of the results of manifest destiny, showing both sides, warts and all. The white man, while seeming noble in purpose, is shown to have been lacking in honor, and while the Indians were certainly shafted time and again they had many of their own faults. Central to this story is the famous mountain man Kit Carson, a man of many contradictions: though extremely intelligent he was also illiterate; he could speak many of the native languages, understood the Indian ways, and even had Indian wives but he also participated in the slaughter and removal from their lands of these same Indians. The book also includes engaging portraits of many of the important figures of this time period: Stephen Watts Kearny, John Fremont, the Navajo warrior Narbona, and Senator Thomas Benton. Sides is even handed and honest in how he portrays all those involved. At times I felt I was reading fiction but this story is real!
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