The Custer Myth: A Source Book of Custeriana (The Custer Library) (Hardcover)

~ William A. Graham (Author) "IN CONSIDERING the weight to be given Indian accounts concerned with any event that involved differences with whites, one should be wary..." (more)
Key Phrases: lone tepee, orderly trumpeter, lodge pole trail, Little Big Horn, General Custer, Sitting Bull (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Introduction by Brian C. Pohanka, 65 b/w photos 22 drawings 10 maps 7 x 10 "The Custer Myth is truly a source book. Students of the Indian Wars will be forever indebted to Colonel Graham for his compilation and to Fred Dustin for his comprehensive bibliography." -The New York Times Immediately after news of the disaster at Little Bighorn spread across the nation in June of 1876, editors, artists, and writers made George A. Custer into the battle's tragic hero. The laudatory biographies that followed and his widow's desperate attempts to preserve her late husband's heroic memory soon elevated his reputation to mythic proportions. But historian and lawyer W. A. Graham (1875-1954) was not interested in the propaganda surrounding the Custer myth. In 1953 Stackpole first published William A. Graham's The Custer Myth, a much-needed reference work that presents original source material without the bias of interpretations and misconstructions. Now available in paperback, this classic study will continue to serve as an indispensable tool for every Custer researcher, student, and enthusiast. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books (February 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811703479
• ISBN-13: 978-0811703475
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 7.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,370,561 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars By far the most trustworthy book on Custer., February 5, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Warrenton, OR) - See all my reviews

By far the best of the vast Custer literature. Graham gathers together in one place primary data and lets you draw your own conclusions. On Custer, Graham is the only author I have read who writes without massaging his data to support some preconcieved theory. This book, incidently, was published in 1953, not in 1993.(It would be helpful if Amazon would note first copyright dates in book listings.) This book was not bashed out to meet a schedule or catch a market window; Graham gathered data literally for decades. Being an army officer-- Judge Advocate Corp--gave him access to files and access to survivors who were eyewitnesses to the fight at Reno's end of the field.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable resource for the Little Bighorn enthusiast, October 11, 1996

By A Customer

Perhaps this collection suffers a bit from attempting to be all inclusive, but one can forgive the editor for this failing. Col. W.A.Graham, one of the foremost Custer scholars of his generation, was a retired Army lawyer who believed his mission was to present all the available evidence concerning the subject without slanting the presentation to a particular point of view. I'm happy to see Stackpole Books reissue this gem as part of its Custer Library, This book collects, in one volume, some of the most important and interesting contemporary accounts of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, some of which are next to impossible to find anywhere else. Graham includes excerpts from Sioux, Cheyenne, Arikara and Crow Indian accounts of the battle, statements of participants in the battle, excerpts from the letters of Captain Fred Benteen to his wife and to Theodore Goldin, and Lieutenant (later General) Edward Godfrey's classic article on the battle. This is one of the few books every person interested in Custer and the Little Big Horn Battle must have close at hand.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Vast Collection of Testimonies amd Letters on Custer & LBH, July 27, 2000

By	Daniel Hurley (Chesapeake, VA.) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is Graham's great collction of testimonies about Custer and the Little Big Horn from the Sioux, Cheyene, Rees, Crows, scouts, officers, soildiers and others. An incredible collection of material laid out in categorical chapters. Graham lays this often quoted collection out without prejudice and although he questions the Indian participant's accounts due to their lack of perception of exact time and spatial realities, he presents it all the same. What is quite fascinating are the virtual raw letters of Benteen to William Goldin. The letters show Benteen's bitter side particularly toward Custer and demonstrates that Reno was also not held highly on his list, if anyone was. Also, has Godfrey's great history of the battle and the book even includes challenging letters from Grahams critics to his personal responses. A great book for those that want to know all from multiple perspectives of the participants.