Rating: 
Summary: A terrific account of the Custer legend
Review: A classic telling of the entire Little Big Horn saga, filled with many interesting details that I had not encountered before. A great read for those long winter nights. As a Custer buff for many years, this is one of the best books on the Custer subject matter. Well done. For an added treat, read the book then watch the film, an excellent adventure for the mind.
Rating: 
Summary: Naughty Little Audie
Review: A good brisk debunking of Custer is always enjoyable. Not only is the traditional interpretation of the battle at the Little Big Horn an insult to the miltary prowess of the Native American, it is also an insult to the 7th Cavalry, that gallant troop Custer so dishonored with his vainglorious judgement. Evan Connell has a real talent for prose, and he lends it to this story of a man who had the misfortune to believe his own legend and died as a result of that belief. Somehow, and this was a neat trick, Custer killed himself and many of his men in an act of pure hubris and refusal to credit Indians with any capacity for organization, and STILL became a national hero. Connell rightly places the blame for this myth-making on his wife, Elizabeth, who spend her widowhood creating and maintaining the Cult of Custer. "Son of Morning Star" goes well towards putting things to right.
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Summary: Tremendous read!
Review: Beautifully written, well researched and told with a charming flavor and wit. This is THE book regarding The Little Bighorn. I could not put it down.
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Summary: Connell's digging for more than arrowheads
Review: Between the opening words of Evan S. Connell's brilliant historical novel ("Lt. James Bradley led a detachment of Crow Indian scouts up the Bighorn Valley....") to the inevitable final thought ("....when I was riding among the dead, my pony may have kicked dirt upon his body..."), readers of "Son of the Morning Star are in for an epic journey. A stunningly detailed work, Connell's novel examines the United States' treatment of the Native American, battles fought and lost on the Montana plains and a graphic pioneer history that should make most professors squirm.Perhaps the beauty of "Son of the Morning Star," one of the finest American historical novels ever written, is that it throws caution to the wind, much like the reckless George Armstrong Custer himself, and simply lets the bullets fly. Very few stones are left unturned. Readers who reach the eventual conclusion (which should not be too difficult, as this novel is difficult to put down) will most likely have a different view about the American West and the men who died upon its dusty plains. There are about a thousand books that have been written about this battle and the man who led the charge down into the Big Horn Valley on that hot day in June of 1876. But nary a one has come close to capturing the kind of spirit, with a dash of incredibly dry wit, that Connell put into his heartfelt work. There are no political motivations here, and Connell is not about to create a tome of American propaganda. Thus "Son of the Morning Star" explodes from its pages, born of an obsession for exposing the leathery truth amidst the smoke and dust of haunting death. He comes ever so close, and his work resembles a trembling documentary camera lens, intensely examining the fears and rage that brought about this bloody clash upon the canvas of history. Perhaps we should ask ourselves why this story refuses to go away? Connell does. Perhaps we should ask ourselves why such a brutal campaign and battle even took place? Connell does. Perhaps we should ask ourselves why man is so intent upon creating battles and eventually war when preventive discussion is available? Connell does. And perhaps we should ask ourselves why Custer rode down into that valley, outnumbered five to one, in a furious attempt at beating the odds for the sake of United States political glory? Connell does. I like the fact that in Connell's nonfiction journey, there are no heroes or villains. Crazy Horse is just as eccentric as Custer. Sitting Bull is just as hackingly grandiose as Sherman. Benteen is just as ornery as Gall. These Native Americans had much to fight for on this day, and this battle would become the last stand for the way of life of an ancient era. Connell's not trying to reveal what happened during the Seventh Cavalry's final desperate moments on that dusty, storied hill. He's not even interested in who fell last. Granted, he does examine both issues, but what fascinates Connell is why this battle haunts so many Americans to this very day. The dynamic of this legend and its many haunting sounds, still reverberating across our country so many years later, is the mournful music he's trying to decipher. Much like a person who looks towards the echo to see the ghost they know is there, Connell finds nothing but gaping silence and stripped despair. Connell's "Son of the Morning Star" captures these crying ghosts in a hazy antique bottle, and there he finds wisdom for the modern era......
Rating:
Summary: One of the most enjoyable and worthwhile reads of a lifetime
Review: Connell brings a novelist and poet's gifts to the writing of history. Would that all historians wrote prose like this. In a unique, non-linear style, nearly every aspect and detail, macroscopic and mundane, of the Little Bighorn campaign is laid before us, as well as antecedent and peripheral matters relating to it. One of the many marvels of the book is the way Connell writes unflinchingly about a brutal and tragic period, yet with a dry sense of humor that compels one to read passage after passage all over again, and aloud to anyone who will listen. Connell would be a great dinner guest, and friend to meet for a beer. I have read Son of the Morning Star three times, not counting innumerable browsings which threaten to draw me into the entire work yet another time. I've nearly memorized entire passages without intending to. Some may feel uncomfortable at a similarity Connell draws between the Nazi genocide and the European-American destuction of the Native American cultures and way of life. But hey, no one likes an attack on his national mythology, justified as it may be. Connell neither deifies nor demonizes Custer (or any other man or woman in the story), but treats him as a fascinating, flawed human being. His account is compassionate, but unrelenting in its exposure of human frailty and folly, wherever it may be found in the complex mosaic of history. Buy this book, enjoy, re-read, and hope that Connell takes up the historian's pen again
Rating:
Summary: Aimless journey through an American legend
Review: Connell has one of the most unorthodox writing styles of any history writer I've read but somehow it works brilliantly. A proper chronological order is completely disregarded and Connell jumps all over the place, yet somehow is able to keep the reader right along with him. It reminds me of listening to an old Vet tell war stories and finish half a story and skip to something completely unrelated again and again and again until you can't remember where he originally started the conversation from. Yet, just like listening to the proud hero tell his tales, it is completely fascinating and you will hang on every word.
A prime example of this is within the first ten pages of the book, Connell is writing about President Hayes' Court of Inquiry, three years AFTER the battle.
Another thing which Connell does masterfully is tell BOTH sides of the tale. The Dakota and 7th Cavalry are given equal weight throughout the book and the author pours pertinent information as well as trivial but entertaining facts at the reader. And along with giving biographies on Reno and Benteen, the reader learns just as much background information on Gall, Crazy Horse and Two Moon.
About the only person I suggest shy away from this book is a college student cramming for a paper because there's no way they'd be able to find the needed info with Connell's writing style. However, if they don't procrastinate and began reading at the beginning of the semester, I promise you won't find another book with more info on the subject.
-Warning-
If you do read "Son of the Morning Star," be prepared to take a trip out to the high plains of Montana to see the battlefield. Connell's book instilled a 'must-see' desire into me on having to see the Bighorn for myself and I plan to go next summer. See you there!
Rating:
Summary: useless as history
Review: Connell has written an excellent narrative, as other reviewers have noted. But the book contains not a single footnote or citation. This means that it is utterly useless to the professional historian. We are not able to independently ascertain when Connell is relying on the sources and when he is speculating. We have no means of checking up on him. It is a fine book, but totally irresponsible as a work of historical scholarship.
Rating:
Summary: Naughty little Audie
Review: Debunking Custer is long overdue. Not only is the misrepresentation of Little Big Horn an insult to Native Americans, it is also an insult to the 7th Cavalry, that gallant troop Custer so dishonored with his vanity and poor judgement. Evan Connell has a talent for prose, and he lends that gift to this story of a man who had the misfortune to believe his own legend and died as a result. Somehow, and this was a neat trick, Custer killed himself and many of his men in an act of pure hubris and refusal to credit Indians with any tactical genius, and STILL became a national hero. I, along with Connell, blame his wife Elizabeth for creating and maintaining the cult of Custer only now being put to rights.
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Summary: Simply the best book ever written on the American experience
Review: Evan Connell achieves a kind of Tolstoyan sweep of the history of the Last Stand for the American Indian. But this is so much more than another "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee." He manages through brilliant exposition to reveal both the heroic mysticism and bald stupidity of the white drive westward. I use both the book and the movie based on it in my course at Penn State‹Abington College entitled "American Archaeological Landscapes," and my students have responded to his words like they have responded to no other subject. The book is a stunning tour-de-force. Every incoming President should be sat down and forced to read it.
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Summary: A MARVELOUS DEFINITION OF AN ERA
Review: Evan Connell has masterfully given us not only an excellent account of the event and the participants, but insight on a way of life in the last century. The amount of information he has compiled is remarkable. A riveting read for those of us who enjoy meandering through America's past.
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