Review: The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn by Nathaniel Philbrick

Title: The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Author: Nathaniel Philbrick
Publisher: Viking
Publication Date: May 4, 2010
Edition: Hardcover (466 pages)

The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn by Nathaniel Philbrick

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn by Nathaniel Philbrick is an account of the battle that took place on June 25, 1876 between the United States Army and combined plains Native American tribes. What makes this book so enthralling is that the reader is able to experience, through the author's narrative, the events that lead up to the battle and the personalities of George Armstrong Custer, Chief Sitting Bull and others, as well as the iconic American West.

I wanted to read a book about this historical event around the time of the 140th anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, but wanted to choose a title with a balanced perspective--one that did not glamorize or characterize it as a necessary undertaking by the "good" government vs. the "bad' Native American. This book did not disappoint. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the subject.

This book also made me very sad that my government could treat Native People with such dishonor, discourtesy and attack without any real provocation. The author has written extensively about US government policies in place in the latter part of the 19th century and the circumstances in which the Native peoples found themselves that goes far beyond the history books one studies in their primary education years.