Rating: 
Summary: Good intro to the period, but not much else of value here
Review: Stephen Ambrose is an amazingly prolific writer of history. I cannot speak about his other books, as I have not read them. This book, however, is simply a regurgitation of old research trying to be unique by juxtaposing the lives of the two men most associated with the Indian Wars. The only thing parallel in these two lives is the time period in which they lived. Anything else is a stretch. Indeed the underlying premise that these were two great warriors destined to meet on the field of battle is the stuff that drama, not real history, is made of. By all accounts the Indians didn't even know Custer was there until the fighting was over, and while Crazy Horse was known as a great warrior amongst his people, there were many respected warriors on the field that day. Crazy Horse was, at most, a first among equals. Indeed, in trying to popularize his history, Ambrose makes the common mistake of portraying Crazy Horse as a general leading his troops into battle. Phrases like "Crazy Horse stuck to his command post," may help to bring the battle to life for WWII veterans, but it is not a truly accurate rendering of how Indians fought. Ambose does do a good job in the first two chapters of showing the vast differences in the cultures these to men grew up in. For this I give the book two stars. It's also not a bad introduction for someone who has no previous knowledge of the topic. Only, however, if it encourages them to go on to read better and more accurate works.
Rating: 
Summary: Ambrose Brings History to Life!
Review: Stephen E. Ambrose really brings history to life in this book about Custer, Crazy Horse, and the culture of plains indians and American expansionism. Ambrose is able to elquantly put down on to paper both sides of the story without becoming bogged down in what is so popularly reffered to as politically correct revisionist history. After reading this book I really feel as though I have a much better understanding of both the indian side of the story which is to preserve their way of life as well as the unstoppable expansion into the west. Anyway no matter who's side you take Custer's or Crazy Horse's it's a great book and was fun to read.
Rating:
Summary: Heroes on the open prairie in 1876
Review: The story of Crazy Horse and Custer is the story of two men, two societies and two ways of life. The story of the Sioux and those who tried to destroy them.
And when Ambrose tells the story you really get the feeling that this is all about us today. How we became who we are. When Custer looked on a virgin forest, he envisioned sawmills, houses being build etc. Custer believed in progress, in the doctrine that things are going to be better.
Crazy Horse on the other hand saw the trees as they were at that moment. He lived in that moment. For Custer events marched forward, onward and upward. For Crazy Horse things were done because thats the way they had always been done.
Indeed, the European thought that a man should and could improve his station in life would have made little sense to Crazy Horse. Ambrose lets us know that Custer might have been a buffoon, but he died for the thing called progress, the thing we, whites, also believes in.
Along the way we also get to know Crazy Horse, his love for Black Buffalo Women and his people, the Sioux. And it does seem just that Crazy Horse could outnumber and outmaneuver Custer on what is now Custers hill.
One final indian victory before the end. An epic story where every little detail Stephen Ambrose tells us just makes us want more. A brilliant book! -Simon
Rating:
Summary: Great history
Review: This is one of my all time favorite books - one of few I have read twice. Fascinating details about life in early America and both differences and similarities between the two men - people are people. It seems that you could substitute one man for the other if you changed their cultural backgrounds as well as cultural leanings seem to be the major differences. Whereas, attitude and motivation are very similar. Ambrose makes history come alive. His books would be good course books for American history.
Rating:
Summary: Ambrose Brings Both Crazy Horse And Custer Back To Life
Review: This is simply the best history book I have read in years. If you like American history you will like this book. If you like history and have visited Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument in South Dakota, you will probably love this book. If you like Native American history and/or happen to be a Civil War buff, you will treasure this book and not want it to end. Stephen Ambrose was a marvelous historian. He told real life stories with the skill of a master fiction writer. His characters are gripping, quixotic and often of enviable character. This was the case with Crazy Horse and Custer. If you want to learn about what it was like to live as a Native American on the high plains in the 19th century, this book is for you. If you want to know what it was like to be a U.S. soldier during or after the Civil War, this book is for you. If you want to read a story about valor, integrity, dignity, tragedy and pain, this book is for you. The story of "how the West was won" is sad and heartbreaking at times. But so is life, and so is much of the history of history of the United States. Life, like history, can also be extremely exciting and adventursome. In this book, Ambrose brings both Crazy Horse and Custer back to life so that we may live their adventures with them as they make history. Ambrose is exceptionally fair in his analysisof both men. He is partial to both the Native Americans and the U.S. soldiers who often brutalized them. He paints a picture that is, by all accounts, historically accurate and incredibly interesting. Ambrose makes it possible to see the good and bad in both Crazy Horse and Custer. He shows their strengths and weaknesses, allowing readere to draw their own conclusions about the nature of their conflict. There are few historians who have the talent to research and write with equally admirable skill. Ambrose has done both in this wonderful book. If you are interested in American history, read this. If not, read it anyway. It may inspire within you a new interest in history. It did for me. It may also inspire you to visit a part of the U.S. so beautifully described in this book. Reading this book is like taking a trip to South Dakota or Wyoming, or even into the inside of a Tee Pee or onto the field of a Civil War battle. You will feel surrounded by countless thousands of wild buffalo. You will feel as if you were in the middle of fight on the plains of Colorado. Once you begin this trip, you may not ever want it to end.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely A Great Read!!
Review: This was one of the best, and most objective, biographical books that I've ever read. I came away with a much different appreciation of who Custer and Crazy Horse were as living, breathing human beings, with all the associated quirks. The parallels of their lives was fascinating. I kept asking myself questions that Ambrose subsequently answered. If you've read much about Custer, or Crazy Horse, and haven't read this book, you simply must
Rating: 
Summary: The truth about the Lakota
Review: To the Public: What Mr. Ambrose states in his book is mostly fabrication about
the Sioux Nation. I'm a member of both traditional treaty council's, The Hunkpapa Treaty Council and the Sioux Nation Treaty Council. I'm an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and Chairman, Board of Directors, Lakota/Dakota Advocates for Human and Civil Rights, Inc.. Mr. Ambrose as I have mentioned fabricated our culture and misused what he was told. People who have read the book have misused his writings. On page 39, Mr. Ambrose states that our babies are shared by the nursing women of the tribe, this statement is false and slandering and offensive. To be a nursing mother, the real mother must have died or could not nurse due to injury, and the nursing mother had to be a relative. And, all elders were not called grandfather by the children. Only the real grandfather and the uncles were called a grandfather by the children of that family. These statements were misinterpreted by a major director and misused in a major motion picture. The Lakota/Dakota Advocates are now taking action on these misinterpretations because the statement has slandered our people and one of our greatest warriors. Mr. Ambrose is a non-Indian and a self-proclaimed expert on the people of the Sioux Nation. To make statements about any people and their culture, it is only proper to talk to the people of that culture, no matter what culture it is, and not some self-proclaimed expert. Thank you. And, if there are any questions, I can be reached at the following phone number: 661-274-4434. With Respect, I'am Robert L. Primeaux,
Wanbli Zuya
Rating:
Summary: The truth about the Lakota
Review: To the Public: What Mr. Ambrose states in his book is mostly fabrication about
the Sioux Nation. I'm a member of both traditional treaty council's, The Hunkpapa Treaty Council and the Sioux Nation Treaty Council. I'm an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and Chairman, Board of Directors, Lakota/Dakota Advocates for Human and Civil Rights, Inc.. Mr. Ambrose as I have mentioned fabricated our culture and misused what he was told. People who have read the book have misused his writings. On page 39, Mr. Ambrose states that our babies are shared by the nursing women of the tribe, this statement is false and slandering and offensive. To be a nursing mother, the real mother must have died or could not nurse due to injury, and the nursing mother had to be a relative. And, all elders were not called grandfather by the children. Only the real grandfather and the uncles were called a grandfather by the children of that family. These statements were misinterpreted by a major director and misused in a major motion picture. The Lakota/Dakota Advocates are now taking action on these misinterpretations because the statement has slandered our people and one of our greatest warriors. Mr. Ambrose is a non-Indian and a self-proclaimed expert on the people of the Sioux Nation. To make statements about any people and their culture, it is only proper to talk to the people of that culture, no matter what culture it is, and not some self-proclaimed expert. Thank you. And, if there are any questions, I can be reached at the following phone number: 661-274-4434. With Respect, I'am Robert L. Primeaux,
Wanbli Zuya
Rating:
Summary: Custer
Review: Very interersting book about the blind luck that Custer had in life that failed him in the end. Interesting points about the life style of Native Americans. Well written like all of Ambrose's books.
Rating:
Summary: Can't Put Down
Review: Wonderful depiction of the parallel lives of two legendary western figures. Loved it from beginning to tragic end.
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