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Custer and Me: a Historian’s Memoir
Robert Marshall Marshall Utley

From the Publisher:
"Robert M. Utley traces his lifelong fascination with George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn to an afternoon at the movies in January 1942 when he saw Errol Flynn’s portrayal of the "Boy General" in They Died with Their Boots On. But it was a visit to the Custer Battlefield National Monument in Montana in summer 1946 that put Utley’s life on a new course. He returned for the following six summers to don the National Park Service gray-and-green uniform and tell park visitors the story of Custer. Thus began Utley’s career as historian and National Park Service administrator." Through personal narrative, Utley offers an insider’s view of Park Service workings and problems, both at regional and national levels, during the Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter administrations. Utley also details the birth of the Western History Association, early national historic-preservation programs, and the many clashes over "symbolic possession" of what is now the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Readers will see how a teenager smitten with Custermania came as an adult to appreciate the full complexity of the Battle of Little Bighorn and its interpretation and to research and write narrative histories of the American West that have appealed to popular audiences while winning highest honors from the scholarly and writing communities.

Our Price: $37.95

Civil War Memories of Elizabeth Bacon Custer: Reconstructed from Her Notes and Diaries
Elizabeth Bacon Custer

From the Publisher:
In her first year of marriage (1864-1865) to General George Armstrong Custer, Libbie Custer witnessed the Civil War firsthand, sharing the hardships and dangers of war with Custer’s Third Brigade. Her experiences were so vivid that they seemed ideal material for a book, one that she worked on for years in later life but ultimately never published. In this volume, Arlene Reynolds has produced a readable narrative of Libbie Custer’s life during the war years by chronologically reconstructing Libbie’s original, unpublished notes and diaries found in the archives of the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Libbie Custer’s memories add striking, eloquent details to the Civil War story as she describes her life both in camp and in Washington. Her stories of incidents such as fording a swollen river sidesaddle on horseback, dancing at the Inaugural Ball near President Lincoln, and watching the massive review of the Army of the Potomac after the surrender combine the intensity of an eyewitness account with the engrossing quality of a well-written novel. This book will appeal to a wide audience. For general readers and students of women’s history, it tells a fascinating story of a sheltered girl’s maturation into a courageous woman in the crucible of war. And for both devotees and detractors of her husband, it offers an intimate glimpse into his youth, West Point years, and early military service.

From The Critics:
Publishers WeeklyThe efforts of Custer’s widow to sustain her husband’s reputation after the Little Big Horn battle in 1876 provide a rich fund of insight into the frontier army. This book, compiled from notes she made during her lifetime, tells the storys of the Custers during the Civil War. Reynolds, who portrayed Elizabeth in the TV series The Real West, deserves praise for editing raw material. War bride ``Libbie’’ followed ``Autie’’ in his rise to fame as the Union’s best frontline cavalry general. Her descriptions of the campaigns of 1864-1865 belong in the library of every student of the Civil War. Her candid evaluations of army routines and personalities bring a much-needed perspective to a field still dominated by operational analysis. And her unvarnished descriptions of her own maturing under the stress of war make this a useful contribution to women’s studies as well. Photos. (Nov.) Library JournalThe North’s youngest general proposed to his lady with all the vigor of a cavalry charge. They married in 1864; imme-diately, he scooped her up and carried her off to war. Elizabeth ("Libbie") Custer lived a soldier’s life with George Armstrong Custer on campaigns or awaiting his safe return. For years she kept journals, and though she was a respected author after Custer’s death, she never completed their Civil War story. Enter Reynolds, a writer and actress who played Libbie on television and in plays; discovering Libbie’s diaries, Reynolds was determined to finish the story. She allows Libbie her voice: whether she is decrying her lack of courage on the road or describing the men of the regiment, Libbie’s love and admiration for her husband shine through. We’re allowed a glimpse of a gentler, albeit beleaguered general through the eyes of his beloved wife. Recommended for larger public library Civil War collections.-Nancy L. Whitfield, Meriden P.L., Ct.

Our Price: $24.95

They Died with Custer: Soldiers’ Bones from the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Douglas D. Scott

From the Publisher:
The first study of its kind, this painstaking analysis of the skeletal remains furnishes biographies of the soldiers, identifying their true ages, heights, states of health, and how they died. This not only makes a significant contribution to Little Bighorn scholarship but also offers a general model for new ways to interpret the past.

Our Price: $19.95

America’s National Battlefield Parks: A Guide
Joseph E. Stevens

Synopsis:
From Lexington to Gettysburg and from the Little Bighorn to Pearl Harbor, America’s national battlefield parks preserve the scenes and interpret the events of struggles that have shaped our hisotry. This book features the sites of American battlefields administered by the National Park Service and presents self-guided tours of each park. BandW photos and maps.

From The Critics:
Library JournalThis Baedeker of America’s 38 battlefield parks, from Bunker Hill to Pearl Harbor and Guam, is a lively tribute to U.S. military heritage. One hears the crack of muskets in the capsule battle summaries. With 52 tactical maps of varying quality, sketches of principal figures, and many illustrations, this is an excellent introduction to the ``great battles’’ on U.S. soil. Stevens’s attention to smaller sites gives partisan and Indian warfare a due they rarely receive elsewhere, though the absence of maps for these misses a chance to compare irregular warfare with conventional movements. Likewise, the thin preface says nothing about the history and significance of the selection, establishment, and maintenance of the parks. Civil War buffs will prefer Emory Thomas’s more trenchant but selective Travels to Hallowed Ground (Univ. of South Carolina Pr., 1987) and the U.S. Army College’s series (on Antietam and Gettysburg to date); casual visitors will be content with Park Service literature and American Automobile Association guides. But for those who want to feel as well as understand the battles, this is the best source.-- Randall Miller, St. Joseph’s Univ., Philadelphia BooknewsEach of the 38 chapters (one for each battlefield park administered by the National Park Service) tells the story of a particular battle and presents self-guided walking and automobile tours keyed to National Park Service numbered tour maps. Fifty-two maps portray battlefield troop movements and depict present-day roads, trails and visitor facilities. The text is further illustrated with drawings, paintings, and modern and historic photographs. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Our Price: $24.95

They Died with Custer: Soldiers’ Bones from the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Douglas D. Scott