Customer Reviews

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: The Illustrated Edition: An Indian History of the American West

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Saw this book at the Smithsonian Indiian Museum in Washington DC. My husband couldn't put it down. This is the one with the illustrations which really brings home the story. Great read, great book. Anyone interested in learning the other side of the Indian story needs to read this.

The original is a very well written book, nearly every chapter is a story in itself. Together they give an overview of the partail genocide and internment in concentration camps/reservations of some of the most prominent "Native American" tribes, along with other interesting facts and fantastic photos. My only gripe with this latest edition is that many of the original photos have been deleted, most of them are replaced with alternates of the same subject, but not all. The pics. of Roman Nose and Wovoka are gone replaced only with charcoal drawings. One of my favorites, Big Eagle brandishing his war club is gone, replaced with a photo that does'nt jump of the page the way the original does. This new edit. has a number of essays interspearsed through the chapters, an infomitive preface, many new photos and two maps, all of which are welcome. I was hopeing the maps would be of more assistance, they date from 1852 which is well before the 1860-1890 time-line of the narrative. They leave alot to be desired for answering questions like: Where is the "Smokey Hill"?...refered to with great frequency in the early chapters. If you've not read this book I suggest an earlier edition as it should have a better flow reading it as it was first intended, then since the vast majority of readers will be compelled to reread this classic, buy the expanded version for an even more enjoyable reread. A sample of the interesting facts aforementioned: (July 1860 the repeating rifle invented)...To me this shows that the Union Army finally had the ability to wage war with the confederates, carry on their genocide doctorine of free peoples, while standing ready to defend against a potential foriegn invader like Great Britten. The union could'nt have done all three without repeating rifles, so as soon as they had them they wasted no time forceing their agenda. Consider: What if slaves had been granted freedom while tribal Americans were free? Drums, danceing, tribal religion...these two tribes of man flurishing stood firmly in the way of corporate America and still do, as propaganda wars are as prominent as ever.

A rather relentless exposure of the deliberate slaughter of the American Indians of the American West from 1850 to 1890. It does become depressing as we move from one chapter to the next and one tribe after another is lied to, plundered, forced to re-locate and its' members killed off through-out all these phases. It is indeed a very sad reflection on America.

In these pages there are very few Americans who made a genuine attempt to deal humanly with the Indian nations. The only thing that can be said is that the European Americans (settlers, miners, industrialists, railroaders and soldiers) saw land and took it. The reservation system was simply land that no Americans wanted and forced the Indians to occupy it at dire cost.

In the long history of modernity coming in contact with tribal peoples, little good ever occurs to the indigenous population. This is certainly borne out in the pages of this book.

What is also interesting is the complete disconnect between Washington government policy and events happening to the Indians out West instigated by the settlers and the army.

It must also be remembered that at this time African Americans were enslaved or had just been released from slavery. They too were a disenfranchised people on the American continent. It is hardly surprising in this context, that Native Americans had much to fear from the movement of European Americans to the West. America was not a society that had a history of dealing benevolently or equitably with non-Europeans.

This new Sterling edition has wonderful photographs and illustrations of a long ago vanished people.

The illustrations, and pictures bring an already well written book to life. I would recommend it for your updated library!

I already had a paperback edition ,but this book is so beautifully excecuted ,that I can't leave it in the bookcase.

H.Veraart

I love this book.
i got a paperback version and was rivetted with the accounts presented.
It is a book that makes uncomfortable reading in the light of environmental issues so prominent today, and also America's role in championing the cause of the abused and displaced.
"The land of the free" is a hollow sounding claim when the blood of thousands of Indians cries out for justice, wiped out by the advancing super race of Americans.
I wonder if Adolf Hitler ever complained of American interference in Germany's attempt to wipe out the jews,given what was done to native Americans, or maybe he looked to American history for some good ideas.

This illustrated Edition of Dee Browns masterpiece is enthralling and brought to life with the illustrations, photographs and additional comments from various sources.
If you, like me thought John Wayne and others who sat tall in the saddle were the epitomy of the American cowboy fighting the Indian menace, this book will destroy that myth forever.

Having worked my way (slowly) through Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee [Illustrated 2009] I was struck with the overwhelming feeling that we (whites) have done such wicked things in the past that any ability to discern and comment from a feigned position of innocence has been fully compromised. I may think I can recognize evil in others, but unless I can see it in myself, I am totally deluded. I also recognized the feeling is it was a complete travesty for the United States to have found the Nazis guilty of crimes against humanity without having convicted themselves of the same monstrosities during the Indian Wars. It is ludicrous that we should fail to see the parallels between them.

Historically, there were persons alive at the end of World War II who experienced and remembered the virtual extermination of their race in the 1890's, as well as a number of living war criminals who were never brought to justice. The United States handed out sentences at Nuremberg with an air of self-righteousness totally without any recognition of our own guilt less than 50 years before. The excerpt from Teddy Roosevelt's The Winning of the West demonstrates the hubris and self deception which served to justify US imperialism during his presidency and US foreign policy of the 20th century. To find the German people guilty of heinous crimes and feel compelled to punish them, without dispensing the same 'justice' on ourselves was not only hypocritical, it was delusional. I am not saying that following military orders is improper. Obedience to orders is the basis of command responsibility. However, it was very apparent that numerous crimes against Native Americans, just like the Jews and gypsies were committed by civilians without any possible claim of respondeat superior.

I am convinced that ongoing process which is restoring the wealth stolen by the Nazis from the victims of the Second World War is also applicable to First Nation People. Acting as though the statue of limitation has run out on either is a failure to acknowledge the truth. As malleable as that statement is, we still should feel compelled to an honest accounting and dialog with the victims and their children. I do not expect that either side can fully appreciate what was done, but until each party has had their say in transparent, open and honest forum, the wounds of genocide are unlikely to heal.

We have a collective responsibility not to hide behind our mythical history of the victors and act as though the end justified the means. We still have much reckoning to do when it comes to the Indian Wars and the Second World War treatment of the Germans and Japanese and their (and our) respective treatment of the Jews and the Indochinese. To the victor, go the spoils (Victori Spolia) or winner takes all, only works when you don't cheat.

I was thoroughly impressed with this book. I was not expecting to receive this high of quality with this book, but the book is gorgeous from cover to cover. One of the best illustrated works I have ever seen, and for the price I would buy it again.

I had originally read this book in the 1980's in paperback and spotted it recently on a visit to Denver from Melbourne /Australia ,but couldn't take it due to weight restrictions.... bu was determined acquire it .
Glad I did..Lavishly illustrated ,and a must for anyone interested in the demise of the Native Americans at the hands of white greed .
Having been to many of the sites mentioned ,it is a powerful testimony and is complimented by magnificent photography all the way through the book...in short "A Must Have"

I bought this book as a birthday present for my dad (a history major in college). He read the original edition back when it came out, but now he's reading it again and appreciates the illustrations. It's definitely good enough to read twice (especially since it's been so long since he read it the first time). It's a very high quality edition and the content offers a much-needed alternative view of the history of the American West.