Custer's Last Stand: The Anatomy of an American Myth [Paperback]

Brian W. Dippie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 1994

Defeat and death at the Little Bighorn gave General George Custer and his Seventh Cavalry a kind of immortality. In Custer's Last Stand, Brian W. Dippie investigates the body of legend surrounding that battle on a bloody Sunday in 1876. His survey of the event in poems, novels, paintings, movies, jokes, and other ephemera amounts to a unique reflection on the national character.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brian W. Dippie, a professor of history at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, is a well-known authority on Custer and the author of Catlin and His Contemporaries: The Politics of Patronage (Nebraska).

Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (October 28, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803265921
• ISBN-13: 978-0803265929
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,314,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All things Custer, November 13, 2000

By 

Richard P. Mayhew (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Custer's Last Stand: The Anatomy of an American Myth (Paperback)

When I bought this book I was looking for serious military/historical chronology of what happened at the Little Big Horn that hot Sunday of July in 1876. This book spends exactly 12 pages explaining the battle. The rest of the book is broken into sections describing how the event affected the American Psyche. Paintings of The Last Stand, poerty describing The Last Stand, novels, movies and jokes related to The Last Stand are all examined in depth here. There is a 12 page section of photos and illustrations. The defeat of an American army in the field by Indians on the 100th birthday of The United States sent shock waves through the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition where the visiting people were studying the wonders of modern technology, convinced that nothing could stop the progress of science and thus this country's western expansion. The different views of Custer and indeed our very government can be seen by how differently the event has been portrayed by various forms of the media. As an example of this think of any movies you may have seen about the battle, the older ones are very sympathtic towards the 7th Calvalry, showing the Indians as blood thirsty savages while the newer crop of films has reversed the roles of who was the blood thirsty savage. If you are looking for a hard core military examination of the battle pass on the book, if you are interested in an unusual study of the American response to an event no one ever expected, one which continues to fascinate us to this day, this book is for you.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Examination of the American Mythology, October 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Custer's Last Stand: The Anatomy of an American Myth (Paperback)

I read this book over the summer, and enjoyed it thoroughly. I may be biased (I have had classes under Dr. Dippie) but I found the book to be well thought out and a very fascinating look at a branch of American history that a lot of people forget about when they get concerned with who did what when. This book deals with the development of the American mythology, and is a delight to read. I highly recommend it.