Well, this is a very important, yet on the face of it, rather strange, book: sketches of the many atrocities committed by both Native Americans and European settlers during what the author calls the centuries-long "American-Indian War." The purpose is to counter the myth/narrative of the peaceful Indian victim as well as the myth/narrative of the always-heroic settler. I think the author does succeed in doing this in an even-handed way. A lot of readers will be shocked by the extent of inter-tribal warfare before and during this time period, as well as the level of brutality by Natives towards each other and settlers-- torture, mutilation, etc., were completely legit among many Indian tribes. I really didn't know that. The brutality of settlers is also covered quite extensively. Shocking stuff all around. Terrible things occurred and its painful to learn the extent of it. BUT, along with these accounts come extensive background and crucial details-- the complexities of what the author rightly considers to be one long war, from 1607 until the end of the 19th century. And those complexities are very interesting. The accounts of the atrocities themselves are often quite gruesome, so not everyone will be up for reading those, and after awhile, I found myself skimming through them. But it's the context and history and cumulative weight of these incidents that are important. The background to well-known atrocities at Sand Creek, the Washita River, as well as the Santee Sioux uprising, were especially enlightening to me. There are chapters on Native and settler cultural beliefs/norms as well as, at the end, an extensive account of more recent Native history, governmental Indian policy, the BIA and its problems, and what a few tribes have done and are doing now and how those efforts are faring. I thought the book was generally fair, and a corrective to revisionist history and propaganda. The book is well-researched and heavily footnoted. I read it because I think an accurate history of this long war is really needed if the people of the US want to move forward together, and right now we don't have a widely agreed upon, accurate historical narrative. And this is a real problem for the nation as a whole in my view. The author ends on a hopeful note: "No doubt the best of times in this country are yet to come. The descendants of the settlers, the descendants of the Indians, and all other Americans would be wise to join in that future.....no atrocities have been committed by present-day whites against present -day Indians or vice versa. No one at the Santee Sioux Uprising, the Sand Creek Massacre, or the Wounded Knee Massacre is alive today. The time has come to go forward together, unhindered by the mutual atrocities growing out of the war." I hope we as a nation get to a place where that humanitarian viewpoint is more widespread then it appears right now. It may take awhile. But I hope that the argument for moving forward is picked up by more of our opinion-leaders. Not sure this is the kind of book that will spur that, but you never know. Another quote from the book: "History is not history unless it is the truth." Abraham Lincoln said that.
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- Thomas SloanReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2013
THE MOST BORING BOOK i EVER READ
