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Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West (平装)
by Dee Brown
| Category:
Indian history of American west |
| Market price: ¥ 168.00
MSL price:
¥ 158.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
This book evocatively relates the sad tale of the final displacement of the American Indian from the West, covering the period from 1860 to the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 8 items |
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Rhonda Fox (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-29 00:00>
Nothing could prepare me for the emotional effect that "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" would have on me. Dee Brown brings us the history of the white settlement of the American West as told by the people who were there, both white and Indian. This is not the history we learned in school, and the book will shatter the images of many of our heroes, but the story is important enough that I think every American should read it.
I also recommend "The Trail of Tears", by Gloria Jahoda, which is the history of the removal of the eastern tribes to the west. These two books are neccessary if you, as an American, want a complete education of American History.
Beyond education, these books present a people who loved the earth, trusted and respected mankind, and lived honorable lives. I trust that these stories of the near annihilation of our native people at the hands of our forefathers will effect you in unexpected ways, and that you will come away from the experience with new heroes, and a broken heart. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-29 00:00>
In Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown offers a compelling and honest view of Native American history told by the natives themselves. It is a heartwrenching and depressing account of one of the greatest atrocities comitted by one race of people against another - the drive of Native Americans from their homeland, the destruction of their culture and the lack of respect and due justice they recieved from the United States Government. This is a central piece of American history that is often brushed under the carpet. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is written in compelling, striking language. Your skin will crawl when you read about the Sand Creek Massacre. A must read for all Americans. |
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Laura M. Dellinger (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-29 00:00>
As a student and fan of history I have read probably thousands of fiction, non-fiction and 'semi-fiction' books, but this could be the most powerful and affecting of them all. Although this book only covers a thirty-year portion of the early history between European settlers and the native peoples of the United States, the repetitive nature of the encounters depicted fully displays the shameful truths that school textbooks and most Western movies hid, ignored, misrepresented or lied about. In EACH case, the settlers - and later, the U.S. government itself - deceived, cheated, manipulated and brutalized the indigenous people. It began before the 1860s and - take it from a person on the scene - it continues to this very day, only by more subtle and low-profile methods. My respect for the author is immense because the history is well-researched and documented and is presented in an even tone that makes the emotional impact of the tragic and infuriating proceedings even more powerful.
This book caused me to see the stereotypical depictions from my youth of Indians as cruel and vicious savages in a much different light, because it brought me to ask myself if I and my fellow Caucasian Americans would act any differently when responding to an outside, invading force assaulting our country and trying to take possession of this country we consider our homeland. I highly recommend this book to anyone, novice or 'expert', who is interested in American history and/or Native American people. |
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John G. Hilliard (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-29 00:00>
I have read some other books on the American Indians, but I must say that this is the most complete volume of their destruction that I have read. Not only does it give you a destruction time line, but also it does it in a very well written and gripping fashion. The author writes as best he can from the Indians viewpoint and I think this helps the reader get a better grasp of the pain the Indians went through. I knew it was a wonderfully written book by the fact that the pages just kept flowing, I never found myself slowed down or bored. It is just page after page of the US government taking advantage and overrunning the American Indians. The one constant it highlights is that the group with the most power can justify any crime, no matter how egregious in their name.
In the book the authors detail how a common phase came about in America, "The only good Indian is a dead Indian". I have heard that statement before but it did not mean much to me. Now after reading about the constant pressure the Americans put on the Indians and the disgusting about of violence, it has far more meaning. When you read a book like this you just keep asking yourself how can people commit these crimes against women and children? The author has also dug up a number of photos of the Indians he details which makes it even more power to see the people that were so aggressively destroyed. A wonderful book that every American should read to make sure we know the real history of the country. |
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Andrew Freborg (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-29 00:00>
Dee Brown's masterful history of American expansion primarily through the 19th century should definately be required reading in any American History course. Accurately and unbiasedly presented, this is no PC fluff piece, but a true account of the attrocities committted by the United States and its citizens in the aquisition of territory. The account of Colorado's Sand Creek Massacre in which Colorado State Millitiamen literally slaughtered peaceful Cheyennes and later mutilated the corpses for public exhibit was particulary emotional for me - and is the inspiration for the review title. Such a stain! Overall a truly excellent anthology of the Indian Wars of the American West. |
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G Rodgers (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-29 00:00>
This is a harrowing book to read, yet withal it is very informative and gripping. It was first published a considerable time ago, yet its impact is still great - one can't fail to be moved by the plight of the Indians when faced with the tidal wave of white emigration. It struck me that this could almost be described as a nineteenth century version of the execrable film "Independence Day" except that there's no implausible happy ending.
The main difficulty with this book though is that it is not a balanced objective history of the times. Indeed it is subtitled "An Indian History of the American West". Perhaps going to the extreme Brown does in his narrative was necessary to rebalance the years of biased images of how the West was won: I recall the endless stream of awful cowboy and "injun" movies churned out by Hollywood. Nonetheless, this is not a strictly scholarly work - other reviewers have pointed out the difficulty of relying upon the accounts used by Brown. There is an persistent underlying theme of paradise lost in the book which is at odds with the fact that in one or two places Brown lets slip that the Indian tribes were rivals, not brothers, and that various Indian tribes found it convenient to take the side of the white man.
Yet, that is not to detract from the book's value - not least as I stated above to rebalance the distinctly biased views of yesteryear. Lest anyone be tempted to utter a silent guffaw at one of the darker sides of the American Dream, very few nations can pride themselves in a spotless past. European colonialism for example was a distinctly nasty affair (one recalls the fate of the Tasmanian aborigines at the hands of the British). But the litany of man's inhumanity to man is the uniting characteristic of human history - the treatment of the American Indian just forms another chapter in that dismal record. "Humanity" - a species that has contributed nothing to the earth and taken everything from it. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-29 00:00>
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is a profoundly moving book. It takes you back to a time of new beginnings, when things could've been done right, but were inevitably done wrong. And the original people of the American land who were done wrong by. Wounded Knee is a place, where spirits live, Indian's do the "ghost dance" and inevitably people lay in passing, from war and slaughter.
Dee Brown's novel is a must for anyone who wants insight and understanding into an indigenous culture.
Wounded Knee tells the tale of the "American West" form the other side - the American Indian's perspective. With quotes and chants from famous names that appear synonymous with the "Cowboys & Indians" culture of the American frontier.
An accurate and emotional journey is what the reader will undertake as they take on the naive understandings of these proud people who are inevitably fighting a culture and system of prejudices they can not win. Chieftains like Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Crazy Horse, will inspire and bring feelings of admiration and the sense of oppressing injustice to the forefront of your emotions.
If you are able to read this book without being truly stirred on some emotional level, then you would appear to be super human or perhaps a little more in human than most.
If you seek inspiration and motivation, understanding and sense of being or purpose, I believe you will find these things in Dee Brow's book when you look at and read about the lives of these amazing people.
It is my favorite book! |
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Douglas S. Wood (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-29 00:00>
Dee Brown's book evocatively relates the sad tale of the final displacement of the American Indian from the West. The book covers the period from about 1860 to the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890.
By 1860 the die was cast for the native peoples of the Plains. The railroad was coming, the buffalo on its way to extermination, their way of life destroyed. And yet, none of it had quite happened yet. The denouement was startlingly swift. Still there were heroic episodes - Red Cloud's War (which wasn't really Red Cloud's, but that's another story), Little Bighorn, Chief Joseph's rebellion, Geronimo's resistance, and the Cheyenne exodus. With the exception of Red Cloud's War and the forced retreat of the US Army from three forts on the Bozeman Trail, these efforts were of the tragic heroic variety with very short-lived success. For example, Crazy Horse surrendered within a year of Little Bighorn. In just a few decades the reader witnesses the fall of the tribes from a state of nomadic freedom to utter subjugation.
Highest recommendation. Very well-written and essential. |
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1 Total 1 pages 8 items |
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