This well-researched, well-written dual biography of the two great Lakota leaders Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse is a detailed account of their lives beyond their victory over the U.S. Army at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Shaun Taylor-Corbett’s baritone voice is a splendid vehicle to perform this account. Listening to this production, one hears the constant conflict between two mutually incompatible cultures and the amazing lives that Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull lived. Taylor-Corbett has an easy-to-follow staccato intonation. He is clear in his enunciation, and his performance is an excellent match of text and narrator. Those who are fascinated by the Plains Indian Wars will not be disappointed. An added treat is a pdf of the print version’s illustrations and sources. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
The Earth Is All That Lasts: Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and the Last Stand of the Great Sioux Nation
Narrated by Shaun Taylor-Corbett
Mark Lee GardnerUnabridged — 12 hours, 41 minutes
The Earth Is All That Lasts: Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and the Last Stand of the Great Sioux Nation
Narrated by Shaun Taylor-Corbett
Mark Lee GardnerUnabridged — 12 hours, 41 minutes
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Overview
A magisterial dual biography of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, the two most legendary and consequential American Indian leaders, who triumphed at the Battle of Little Bighorn and led Sioux resistance in the fierce final chapter of the ""Indian Wars.""
Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull: Their names are iconic, their significance in American history undeniable. Together, these two Lakota chiefs, one a fabled warrior and the other a revered holy man, crushed George Armstrong Custer's vaunted Seventh Cavalry. Yet their legendary victory at the Little Big Horn has overshadowed the rest of their rich and complex lives. Now, based on years of research and drawing on a wealth of previously ignored primary sources, award-winning author Mark Lee Gardner delivers the definitive chronicle, thrillingly told, of these extraordinary Indigenous leaders.
Both Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull were born and grew to manhood on the High Plains of the American West, in an era when vast herds of buffalo covered the earth, and when their nomadic people could move freely, following the buffalo and lording their fighting prowess over rival Indian nations. But as idyllic as this life seemed to be, neither man had known a time without whites. Fur traders and government explorers were the first to penetrate Sioux lands, but they were soon followed by a flood of white intruders: Oregon-California Trail travelers, gold seek - ers, railroad men, settlers, town builders-and Bluecoats. The buffalo population plummeted, disease spread by the white man decimated villages, and conflicts with the interlopers increased.
On June 25, 1876, in the valley of the Little Big Horn, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, and the warriors who were inspired to follow them, fought the last stand of the Sioux, a fierce and proud nation that had ruled the Great Plains for decades. It was their greatest victory, but it was also the beginning of the end for their treasured and sacred way of life. And in the years to come, both Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, defiant to the end, would meet violent-and eerily similar-fates.
An essential new addition to the canon of Indigenous American history and literature of the West, The Earth Is All That Lasts is a grand saga, both triumphant and tragic, of two fascinating and heroic leaders struggling to maintain the freedom of their people against impossible odds.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
Editorial Reviews
06/13/2022
Spur Award winner Gardner (Rough Riders) delivers a stirring account of the resistance campaign led by Lakota holy man Sitting Bull and war chief Crazy Horse in the 1870s. “Unwavering in their resolve to live separate from the white men steadily encroaching upon their lands,” the Lakota chiefs and their followers “recognized no treaties and no reservations.” The centerpiece of the narrative is the pair’s victory at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, a clash that Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer instigated and horribly mismanaged, even though he was warned by his own Crow scout, Half Yellow Face, not to divide his troops against the overwhelming force of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. As Gardner makes clear, however, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse’s greatest victory set the stage for their eventual defeat. After Little Big Horn, they had the permanent attention of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, who vowed to force the anti-treaty bands onto reservations, or “exterminate them.” Sharp characterizations and evocative imagery—“The warrior’s head was promptly cut off and taken to Deadwood, where it was paraded around town, earning its keeper enough whiskey to get him falling-down drunk”—make this a standout portrait of the Old West. (June)
"In a year crowded with excellent Western history and biography, Mark Lee Gardner’s The Earth Is All That Lasts stands above the rest as the most ambitious history/biography in both the Western genre and general American biography. His use of primary resources, especially those of Native peoples, is exemplary. I believe it is the finest dual biography of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull ever written." — True West, Best of the West 2023: Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
"Gardner has done prodigious research into the Indian wars, recounting battle after battle, from the glory days to the end for the Lakotas at the infamous Ghost Dance." — Denver Post, "Books to Read this Month"
"The Earth is All That Lasts, a tale of two indigenous heroes, tells the story of resistance and hope in a time when it was most needed." — BuzzFeed
"A stirring account of the resistance campaign led by Lakota holy man Sitting Bull and war chief Crazy Horse in the 1870s. ... Sharp characterizations and evocative imagery...make this a standout portrait of the Old West." — Publishers Weekly
"Spirited history of the great Sioux war leaders of the late 19th century and their valiant stand against White encroachment...A strong work of Western history that strives to bring the Native American view to center stage." — Kirkus Reviews
"A fast-paced and highly absorbing read." — Wall Street Journal
"Digging deeply into often-neglected primary sources, Mark Lee Gardner has written a lavish and powerful dual biography. ... Gardner fleshes out [Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull's] stories in nearly cinematic detail, giving us a fresh look into their characters, motivations, and passions. He also paints detailed images of the Western landscape and of all the diverse peoples who have made it — or are fighting to make it — their home. We’re gratefully left with a finer appreciation for the tragic struggle and selfless dedication of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull." — Big Sky Journal
“Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull remain integral to the broader understanding of the Old West. … Gardner masterfully adds a fresh dimension to the lives of two men he views as freedom fighters.” — Wild West
"Excellent. ... Mark Lee Gardner is one of the best writers around. The pages fly by. ... A great read from a great author." — The Tombstone Epitaph
"With its clear prose and rich narrative ... The Earth Is All That Lasts effectively brings the Native American viewpoint to the fore, and it gives the reader a thorough account of important events in American history." — Military Heritage
"One of the finest books—in all genres—of the year." — True West
"Masterful." — Manhattan Book Review
"An extraordinary work of exhaustive research and meticulous scholarship." — Midwest Book Review
"A remarkable contribution to this tragic period in our history. ... A thrilling read." — The Battlefield Dispatch
“Engaging and well-written. … Many histories of the Sioux Wars have been written, but Gardner’s careful scholarship and deliberate inclusion of Native American voices give added layers of texture, depth, and insight.” — North Dakota History
"With The Earth Is All That Lasts, the renowned Western author sought to tell the story of the iconic battle from the Lakota and Cheyenne perspective" — Colorado Sun
Outstanding. ... The ideal chronicle of the Plains Indians Wars of the late nineteenth century is an articulate, well-researched endeavor that both an informed reader and a subject matter novice would consume and applaud. Mark Lee Gardner’s exceptional contribution to this extensive genre clearly meets this often elusive standard. ... Such an exemplary testament to the effective blend of academic and popular history belongs in the library of every student (and writer) of the Plains Indian Wars. — On Point: The Journal of Army History
A thrill ride for history buffs. ... A must read for Roosevelt aficionados and those who appreciate compelling stories of military history.
As Hollywood’s resident expert on Theodore Roosevelt, I found Mark Lee Gardner’s Rough Riders to be a finely-honed and fresh look at this country’s only ‘cowboy’ regiment to ever see combat. A true tribute to those ‘Children of the Dragon’s Blood’ who charged with Roosevelt up the Kettle and San Juan hills that fateful day in 1898.
Mark Lee Gardner’s excellent book blends history, biography, and well-detailed combat narrative as it shows how Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders became national heroes.
Rollicking. ... Equal parts violent melodrama and meticulous procedural... with enough bloody action to engage readers enthralled by tales of good versus evil.
Rewarding. ... Gardner’s re-creation of the Northfield Raid... orchestrates the often-unwieldy particulars of the event with considerable virtuosity. ... It would be hard to imagine a more thorough account.
01/01/2022
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This well-researched, well-written dual biography of the two great Lakota leaders Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse is a detailed account of their lives beyond their victory over the U.S. Army at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Shaun Taylor-Corbett’s baritone voice is a splendid vehicle to perform this account. Listening to this production, one hears the constant conflict between two mutually incompatible cultures and the amazing lives that Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull lived. Taylor-Corbett has an easy-to-follow staccato intonation. He is clear in his enunciation, and his performance is an excellent match of text and narrator. Those who are fascinated by the Plains Indian Wars will not be disappointed. An added treat is a pdf of the print version’s illustrations and sources. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
2022-04-26
Spirited history of the great Sioux war leaders of the late 19th century and their valiant stand against White encroachment.
Is it possible to say anything more about George Armstrong Custer? Perhaps not, and Gardner, a practiced historian of the West, doesn’t really try. Instead, he places Custer’s demise in the context of a complex Native political and military milieu, with two leaders of widely different dispositions in the forefront. One was Sitting Bull, who, as a holy man endowed with a gift of vision, not only launched a concerted war against the Whites, but also foresaw Custer’s defeat in specific detail. Another was Crazy Horse, the “mysterious Oglala war chief,” whose bravery in the Battle of Little Bighorn verged on the suicidal. Gardner broadens the narrative to embrace related episodes such as the so-called Red Cloud War and the Starvation March, the latter of which made Sitting Bull’s name a household word—so famous that once he surrendered, he joined Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. (See Deanne Stillman’s excellent Blood Brothers for more.) Gardner does a good job of showing how events large and small conditioned the last 20-odd years of the Sioux Wars. For example, as he writes of the Yellowstone region, sacred ground to many Native groups, “the Panic of 1873 put a temporary stop to the Northern Pacific [Railroad], but it didn’t put a stop to the white man’s incursions.” Deals cut behind closed doors in Washington, D.C., were as significant as closer-to-home developments such as the Ghost Dance—and, as Gardner shows, unbending federal policies and their enforcers proved fatal to both Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, who “would not suffer the ignominy of being imprisoned.” A grim highlight of the book is the denouement, which recounts what happened to Sitting Bull’s body in the years after his murder in 1890.
A strong work of Western history that strives to bring the Native American view to center stage.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940176123630 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Publication date: | 06/21/2022 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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