Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne (2010) 973.004 G I thought it was good probably one of the best history books I’ve ever read. The author surveys the historical changes during the 19th century to the southern plains. While he practically covers the entire history of the old west he balances the major national changes going on – manifest destiny, civil war, the persecution of the Indian tribes and the buffalo, ranching and so on – with the personal stories of Ann parker, her family, her Indian son as well as Mackenzie and many other figures. And he fills in the picture with period detail that puts you right in the center of the action. And there are plenty of scenes in the book that you don’t want to witness, but you see it all in vivid and graphic detail. While everyone knows about westward expansion and the plight of the Indians there is so much in the history of the west that very few have heard of: there were times in the mid-19th century when the white settlers gave up and moved back east. Life was just brutal between farming the semi-arid plains, violent storms and having to deal with Indian attacks and abductions. It was interesting that the Spanish set up missions and forts on the frontier and then hoped that the settlers would follow whereas the Americans expanded into the frontier without government assistance as individuals and families hacking their way westward through the wilderness. That rugged protestant individualism I think did much to shape the American character. One thing that book points out that comes as no surprise was the fact that most of these white settlers were just poor people from Europe struggling to survive the same as the Indians. This is really not a cowboy and Indian western—there were no good guys and bad guys just people who wanted to build a piece of the American dream and pass it along to their kids. Of course the Indians had a very different view of things which leads me into the next point: The cruelty of both sides that just staggered the imagination. Because the Indians are usually perceived as a victimized minority you seldom hear about their captives being tortured to death while they laughed. I suppose you could criticize the book as having too much military history and too little personal history. I found the military history to be fascinating as it demonstrated how technology moved everything forward. Witness the development of guns that could be shot whiling riding on horseback and how there was no use of that kind of gun in the east but in the west it was decisive in fighting the Indians. The Indians had their own technological breakthroughs starting with the horses introduced by the Spanish and their own weaponry that was quite effective. In fact their riding skills and arrows and lances stopped the tide of settlers for a good many years and gave them a huge advantage over enemy tribes and the settlers. The vicious take no prisoner fighting between Indian tribes only gave the story an added dimension and depth that many people are not aware of. One unsolved puzzle of the book is why white people who were abducted and adopted into the tribe stayed there. The Indians had a low birth rate due to their rough lifestyle so they needed women who could produce future warriors as hard as life was on the frontier life as an Indian is much harder and more dangerous and much more alien to the women and children who were adopted by a tribe. I thought that the picture of Comanche life on the virgin plains was not romanticized but was treated with respect by the author and was compelling in its own right. In the beginning you are shocked by the violence and cruelty but as the book progresses you’re less shocked but much more deeply saddened as you witness the country and the people being debased. Quanah in particular reveals his humanity and retains his dignity to the end. Matthew Day – Salter Book Group Coordinator