dsade
NutraPlanet Fanatic
"Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches"
I've been doing quite a bit of reading, trying to clear away the concussion fog in my head and picked this one up yesterday morning. Finished somewhere around midnight.
Excellent treatment of the overall Indian Wars with an almost exclusive focus on the Comanches. VERY graphic stories and images of cruelty (on both parts) without the hamfisted, stupid syrupy BS of Dances with Wolves. Both sides on the Indian Wars were cruel and bent on the destruction of the other, but the contrast of the Comanche (the Ultimate Horseback Warrior) to other tribes, such as Tonkawa and Navajo, and the sense of fear that the more "peaceful" tribes had regarding Comanches was palpable.
The last of the Wild Tribes (one of the very last to offer up Armed resistance) were eventually subdued by a few military geniuses who learned to emulate the Comanche fighting style, and the superior technology of the "white man." Comparisons were reminiscent of Jared Diamond's masterpiece "Guns, Germs, and Steel" in their stark neutrality and "matter of factness".
If the old west fascinates you, as well as the uberstudy of life philosophies, then this book will add to your understanding of human natures and lifestyles long-trampled by progress.
I've been doing quite a bit of reading, trying to clear away the concussion fog in my head and picked this one up yesterday morning. Finished somewhere around midnight.
Excellent treatment of the overall Indian Wars with an almost exclusive focus on the Comanches. VERY graphic stories and images of cruelty (on both parts) without the hamfisted, stupid syrupy BS of Dances with Wolves. Both sides on the Indian Wars were cruel and bent on the destruction of the other, but the contrast of the Comanche (the Ultimate Horseback Warrior) to other tribes, such as Tonkawa and Navajo, and the sense of fear that the more "peaceful" tribes had regarding Comanches was palpable.
The last of the Wild Tribes (one of the very last to offer up Armed resistance) were eventually subdued by a few military geniuses who learned to emulate the Comanche fighting style, and the superior technology of the "white man." Comparisons were reminiscent of Jared Diamond's masterpiece "Guns, Germs, and Steel" in their stark neutrality and "matter of factness".
If the old west fascinates you, as well as the uberstudy of life philosophies, then this book will add to your understanding of human natures and lifestyles long-trampled by progress.
