My Life on the Plains (A Bison Book) [Paperback]

General George A. Custer (Author), Milo Milton Quaife (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1966

Edited by Milo M. Quaife, the text of My Life on the Plains has been taken directly from the magazine Galaxy, where it first appeared as a series of articles (January 1872-October 1874). A compact, fast-moving narrative which presents Custer's essential story in better form than any other previous edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

George Armstrong Custer attended West Point, graduating in the Class of 1861. He served as an officer in the United States Army during the Civil War. He was present at the Civil War's first major engagement, the First Battle of Bull Run, and was the officer who received General Robert E. Lee's Flag of Truce, marking Lee's surrender, at the end of the war. Custer fought with the U.S. Seventh Cavalry in the Indian Wars beginning in 1867. He was killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, a battle that has come to be known as Custer's Last Stand.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 626 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr (June 1966)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803250428
• ISBN-13: 978-0803250420
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,561,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating insight into a colorful military man, September 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: My Life on the Plains (A Bison Book) (Paperback)

This book lets the reader into the mind of one of America's most fascinating military men, George A. Custer. He shows his talent for writing and vividly paints a picture of what life was like on the Western Plains. This book is a MUST for any student of the Old West or military historian.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Custer's biography of his Plains adventures, December 12, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: My Life on the Plains (A Bison Book) (Paperback)

Called by Frederick Benteen, "My Lie on the Plains" this is Custer's personal description of his adventures on the Plains. Of necessity it minimizes his Court Martial and other acts of ommission and commission because of Custer's self-view. Notwithstanding this the book gives insights into the psychology of a man who wished to become a legend and did. Any student of Plains History and Custer's part in it, must certainly read the man's own words.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not the Custer you expect to meet, September 22, 2011

By 

Charles Culbertson (Staunton, Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Life On The Plains (Annotated) (Kindle Edition)

What first struck me about this book was George Custer's ability to paint vivid, fascinating word portraits of time, place and action. He was, in short, a damned good writer, and a very educated one, as well. From a reading standpoint, "My Life On the Plains" is easy to digest and, at times, even hard to put down.

What struck me next was that this is NOT the George Custer that we, as a nation, have been brainwashed into believing existed. Nowhere in his narrative did I find a hatred of Indians or any kind of racial prejudice against them. Custer was a hard man, yes, but so was anyone living on the frontier in those days. He brooked no nonsense and took very harsh action in the course of his duty. But in "My Life On the Plains" he is often openly admiring of the Indians of the Plains, and never once expresses the opinion of some of his superiors, like Sheridan -- that the only good Indian is a dead Indian.

And lastly, I was impressed by how amusing this book is. George Custer had a finely tuned sense of humor and could write with his tongue firmly in his cheek. Many of the scenes in this book brought me to outright laughter.

More than anything else, though, this book gave me an insight into the character and motives of one of America's most colorful figures. I found myself wishing I could have been with him in an Indian lodge, smoking pipes with warriors and keeping one hand close to my cocked revolver. A fascinating read that is well worth the time.