A Good Year to Die: The Story of the Great Sioux War [Paperback]

Charles M., III Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1996

This is the dramatic story of the most crucial year in the history of the American West, 1876, when the wars between the United States Government and the Indian Nations reached a peak. Telling a great deal about Indian cultures, history, beliefs and personality, this is the first book to cover the whole year, rather than simply its components. 16-page photo insert. 3 maps.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is a provocative analysis of the Plains War of 1876 by an established scholar in the field. Making sophisticated use of Native American accounts, Robinson (Bad Hand: A Biography of General Ranald S. Mackenzie) demonstrates that the initial balance of forces was by no means unequal. The U.S. Army did not have the numbers, the doctrine or the leadership to win the kinds of decisive battles it expected to win. Robinson is particularly critical of generals George Crook and George A. Custer and correspondingly complimentary toward such Lakota warrior-statesmen as Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. The work's centerpiece is the Little Bighorn, where Robinson believes Custer's exhausted men panicked in the face of superior numbers. The battle's principal importance, however, was as a catalyst. In its aftermath, the U.S. made available resources for the kind of attritional war the Plains Indians had no hope of waging successfully. This sympathetic account will appeal especially to those interested in Native American culture and history. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The Sioux battle cry is Hoka Key!, or "It's a good day to die!" The year to die, 1876, is the pivotal year in the Sioux wars, when record numbers of soldiers and Native Americans died; it is also the year of Custer's defeat, causing a newly aware and outraged public to demand an accelerated war against the Natives. Robinson (Bad Hand: A Biography of General Ronald S. Mackenzie, LJ 3/1/93) traces battles, describes rivalries and self-promotion by officers, and discusses the press and public opinion at this crucial time, debunking mythology. His well-founded overview of the Sioux wars, drawn from manuscripts, archaeology, military records, and newspapers, joins other recent recommended works such as Jerome Greene's Yellowstone Command (LJ 4/1/92), a military history of Gen. Nelson Miles's command, and Robert M. Utley's The Lance and the Shield (LJ 6/15/93), a biography of Sitting Bull. Recommended for public libraries.?Margaret W. Norton, J. Sterling Morton H.S., Berwyn, Ill.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806128909
• ISBN-13: 978-0806128900
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,181,040 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a first rate overview of the Sioux War of 1876, May 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Good Year to Die: The Story of the Great Sioux War (Paperback)

Rather than concentrate on one battle or campaign, Robinson sets the stage for the reader to follow the movement of all the actors playing a role in the drama across the seasons of the war. I used this book as an orientation to the conflicts of 1876 prior to a trip to Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas to visit battle sites while on vacation. My trip was greatly enriched by reading this volume first. You can find more concentrated studies of particular engagements and the biographies of the participants that will offer deeper insights into the war, but for one overall narrative that provides the reader with the flavor of the contemporary army and Indian experience, here's my choice.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best depiction of the battle of the Little Big Horn I've rea, September 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Good Year to Die: The Story of the Great Sioux War (Paperback)

The depiction of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, especially that based on eye-witness accounts is riveting. It shows how different this battle was for the Lakota from the type of fighting they were used to, and what a feat it was for Crazy Horse to have pulled them together to fight in the manner of the white men, even if it was for one time only. The feeling I came away with was that Custet had learned the style in which indians fought, just in time for Crazy Horse to learn to fight like the Cavalry. Both were brilliant military minds.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent recounting, May 2, 2001

By 

Larry Eischen - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Good Year to Die: The Story of the Great Sioux War (Paperback)

This is by far the best book on the Army's conflict with Native Americans since "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". It treats the material as a campaign rather than a series of seperate battles, so that Little Big Horn is treated as part of a whole. The author also describes the personalities and deeds of several Indian characters, not just Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. This is an eye-opening recounting of an important part of US history and a look at one of the greatest guerilla forces ever to wage war against the American Army.