Customer Reviews

Little Big Horn 1876: Custer's Last Stand (Campaign)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Peter Panzeri's "Little Big Horn 1876 " presents a good solid portrayal of Custer's Last Stand. There are several high points to the author's work: The background to that fateful day is ably drawn indeed. We know why both sides met in Southeast Montana when they did. The replay of troop movements on both sides is presented well without losing the reader in detail. There are several good photos of the main characters, personalizing them. Most significantly, the MAPS are excellent. So many military books pay little or no heed to them. The maps here are of first rate full color quality. They are so good that LBH warrants 5 stars on this aspect alone! If LBH has a weak spot, it lies in the absence of any after the battle analysis. A chapter of Monday morning quarterbacking would have been the perfect complement to Mr. Panzeri's efforts. Since we now know that there were survivors from this battle, at least from Major Reno's and Captain Benteen's commands, opinions must abound on the engagement. This omission is insufficient to lowering the ranking of LBH. The maps save the day! REVIEWER'S NOTE: Since submitting this review to amazon, I have gone to Montana and visited the scene. It's impressive! The key point is to underscore the sheer size of the battle area.It's big!! One can quickly appreciate how hard it could have been for Benteen and Reno to come to Custer's aide. With the rolling hills,maybe they did not even see him. In any event the site is right off I 90 and close to the pleasant town of Billings, MT. Now I'm searching for another Custer story. A visit to LBH definitely enhances the printed word!

I spotted Panzieri's book while on a tour of the Little Big Horn in the hands of a tour attendee and I had to have a copy. The best and most unique thing about this book are the maps. Large color overall campaign maps in several stages but the ultimate are the 3 dimensional maps of different phases of the Little Big Horn battle. These color topographical maps not only give you positions of the combatants with time interval notations but the terrain features are excellent. If you have never been there, you will now appreciate the difficulty of the terrian, the high bluffs, the coulees (large drainages) Weir Point etc. which contributed to the difficulty in communications, the effects it had on visualizing the village and the advantages it gave the Native Americans. You can hold the several 2 page maps in your hands at the battlefield and have one of the best guides literally in hand. Also, the condensed history is excellent with a wealth of pictures and it pretty much follows Fox's theory as well as heavy contribution apparently by Gray's time sequence estimates. Fox's theory that Custer was still in the offensive mode which was why his battalion was split with one wing waiting for Benteen when all hell breaks loose does make sense. This is the best condensed version of the campaign but it's all about the maps, they are the best, particularly the 3-D battle maps. The maps alone are worth the purchase.

Little Big Horn 1876: Custer's Last Stand by Peter F. Panzeri is a good overview of the Little Big Horn Campaign. It is written in the traditional Osprey style and in addition has excellent maps showing the troop movements.

The theme of the book appears to be the multiple mistakes made by Custer and his men, espically Major Reno, that led to the destruction of his cammand. The chief among these was over confidence. In this vien, the book is very good. This is a worthwhile read for one who wants to know the basics of an American battle where it is often times difficult to seperate fact from folklore.

Peter Panzieri is the author of this book of the Osprey Military Series, Classic Battles. Like all the books in the series, it boasts abundant photographs and illustrations, but best of all, wonderfully detailed maps showing troop movements. The book relies heavily on Richard Allen Fox's archeological study of the battle and suffers from having been published before Gregory Michno's ground-breaking "Lakota Noon", an analysis of Indian testimony that calls into question some of Mr. Fox's theories. Despite that, it is an excellent book and belongs in every Custer library.

I bought a copy of this, my 3rd or 4th book on the subject, because of the rave comments on the maps from other reviewers. While he maps are OK (certainly NOT National Geographic quality), I found the text to be rudimentary at best, noticed several grammatical errors and (at least on my copy) page 81 ends in mid-sentence and vanishes into thin air. The narrative has a High School History 101 feel to it which may or not be the norm in this particular series of Military perspectives but to its credit there are a number of photographs that do help tie things together for the uninitiated.

For those new to the subject matter this is probably as good a place as any to begin. If, however, you are looking for dramatic insight into this intriguing slice of American history I suggest you look elsewhere.

In addition, for those obsessed with the subject, I highly recommend visiting the battle site. There are numerous spots and lonely, solo grave markers that literally sent chills up my spine. With a little imagination and intermediate knowledge of the subject you can almost hear the sound of battle and get a sense of the sheer terror that many or most of Custers command must have experienced. Oh, and be prepared for the wife to say "That's nice dear" and say she'll see you back at the car or the visitors center!

This is a series book from a collection outlining famous battles through history. Little Big Horn 1876...by Peter Panzeri delivers a thorough, well illustrated and tight description of what was known as Custer's Last Stand (before the PC police got a hold of this piece of the American experience).

This book was written after wildfires burned the brush at Little Big Horn National Military Park. This is important to understand because the denudation of the landscape led to the exposure of many battle-era artifacts. The resulting archaeological work led to a better understanding of the battle and troop movements and dispositions. This book takes advantage of the new information.

The author lays out very concisely the campaign plan, battle movements and likely (based on evidence) final disposition of Custer's troopers on and in the vicinity of Last Stand Hill. The full battle is portrayed with equal relevance given to the Reno/Benteen fight and defense five miles away from Custer. The splitting of Benteen and Reno's troopers as well as personality conflicts and vignettes on the major players on both the Indian and Cavalry sides are provided. The Indian side is well covered and I learned a lot about how and why the tribes gathered there as well as their war fighting tactics and practices that gave me a much fuller understanding of the battle than I had before.

The 3-D maps showing troop movements are very well rendered. Having visited the battlefield, the 3-D presentation is important to understanding the battlefield. It is a very hilly area with major views obscured at many points and battle sounds cordoned off by hills and obstructions. The geography had a major impact on the fighting and outcome of this battle.

This is a thin book, but well worth the cost. Its value is in a thorough rendering and illustration of the essentials of the battle. A great start to understanding "Custer's Last Stand."

The maps, narrative and pictures provide a concise outline of the battle. It does not provide much detail, however, as to how the authors reached the conclusions they did regarding the movements of and how the battle unfolded for the regiments that were completely wiped out (ie. it does not address battlefield archeology to any degree). Nonetheless, it is an excellent overview and should be read in conjunction with books that do address the archeology.

This Book Gives all readers on Custer a good insight on the battle. Has very good maps to show the battle