User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Fascinating book about the history of westward expansion and the conflicts between the Native Americans and the White American settlers. Although the title is "Killing Crazy Horse", the book is a lot more than just about the Indian warrior Crazy Horse. It is a history of much of the conflict with a number of Indian tribes from the earliest days of our country through the late 1800s. I have read quite a bit about this subject, and although many people paint the picture that all the Native Americans were living in peace and prosperity amongst each other when the American came in and basically wiped them out, reality is much more complex than that. Many of these tribes were constantly at war with each other, killing each other, taking other tribe members as slaves, and brutalizing one another for many years before white Americans came on the scene. White Americans basically became another tribe in these battles and eventually prevailed. However, O'Reilly, rightly so, details many horrific and unjustified actions that the United States took against the Indians. As I read this book the main thought I had was how horribly brutal human beings can be to one another. Very sad.
Rating: really liked it
2.5 stars rounded up for the historic accuracy. This one is disappointing. Not titled accurately either. First half is horrific histories of earlier periods. Second half reflects the title. Too wide a subject for this style of “telling” for me.
Rating: really liked it
I was excited for this book. I have always enjoyed Oreileys Killing series. So I have to admit I am disappointed. I know that the book is supposed to be a broad look at America’s wars with Native American tribes, but when you read it, you can plainly see that the authors went into writing this with the intention of focusing on Custers last stand. If that’s the case they should have focused on Custer, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and Grant. The first 50% of the book covers a wide range of topics from Andrew Jackson and the battle of horse shoe bend to the battle of Gettysburg. The first half of the book is just filler because the authors didn’t have enough content to write an entire book soupy based on the life of Crazy Horse. The first half is completely disconnected with the second half, and is therefore just random stories. The second half is much better, as it is a more focused and cohesive story. If you are trying to learn about hostilities on the American frontier, I would not recommend this book.
Rating: really liked it
I'll give O'Reilly and Dugard's book about the "Indian Wars" a solid three stars, but no higher. As with the other books of their "Killing" series, it's a fast read highlighting dramatic personalities and events. From the title, I thought the focus would be on the conflict between Custer and Crazy Horse, the whites vs. the Lakota. But the authors cover a wide stretch of time, from the Battle of Fort Mims, Alabama, in 1813 to the Nez Perce War of 1877 (with an Afterward in which Geronimo and Wounded Knee Creek are mentioned). The problem is that all of that period is covered in under 300 pages which include pictures, maps, and footnotes ( by the way, the maps are excellent and I enjoyed the footnotes!).
The book misses a lot - and I can understand that it's out of necessity if you want to keep the book under 300 pages. But I can't get over the fact that there is no mention whatsoever of the Second Seminole War from 1835 to 1842. It has been regarded as the most costly of all the Indian Wars and yet it failed to remove all of the Seminoles from Florida. It also featured one of the greatest Native American leaders--Osceola. There is an Osceola in my state of Illinois and nineteen other places named after the Seminole leader in the U.S.-- and not a mention of him in this book about the Indian Wars!
There are a couple of minor mistakes that I caught and that isn't too bad. I have to add that I think one of the best things about the book is the bibliography that is included. Readers can delve deeper into the history covered in this book by reading some of the books listed, such as Dee Brown's classic "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee..." and "Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches..." by S.C. Gwynne. I saw several books that I would be interested to read, such as "Cochise: Chiricahua Apache Chief" by Edwin R. Sweeney. Cochise certainly came across in the book as a most impressive leader and I'd like to read more about him! So if this book leads you on to read more about Native Americans, then this book has really accomplished something!
Rating: really liked it
I was looking for an audiobook that my husband and I would both enjoy on a longer drive, He enjoys history, and this fit the bill. An interesting synopsis of the battles and relationships between the Indian tribes and the American Army, Presidents and the settlers of the American frontier. At times brutal, the torture on both sides inhumane ans savage. An eye opening look at a piece of America's past.
Rating: really liked it
I have read all of the "Killing" series and I enjoy how the authors give you nuggets of little unknown facts sprinkled in the rendition you have probably heard before. I am a big history fan. You need to know the stories of our country and O'Reilly and Company know how to spin the tale in an enjoyable way.
This book focuses on Native Americans or Indians, and our treatment of them from the early 1800s until Chief Joseph and the last independent tribe was placed on a reservation in the late 1800s as Americans crept West. We would basically fight and threaten to completely eliminate a tribe till they agreed to be moved to a certain area. Then when we wanted the land we pushed them to the process began again. This certainly doesn't highlight our treatment of the Native Americans.
You will read about the attacks which often included torture by the Indians when they had had enough. They were trying to set an example to show what could happen to the White man if they kept violating the treaty. There was some gruesome stuff.
You will read about Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Cochise, and many other famous Indian warriors. You will also read about Custer, U.S. Grant, Bat Masterson, Wild Bill Hickcock, and other Americans who you might have heard of. This book will give you straight facts on them.
An enjoyable dive into our history on a topic that should make you feel sad about what happened to the original occupiers of our country before manifest destiny was played out.
Rating: really liked it
History....ugh...breaks your heart. Excellent research and delved into a part of history I don’t often read about.
Rating: really liked it
Okay, first of all I just want to say the only reason this was hard for me to read was mainly because my grandpa who died January of this year (2020) had and read all these Killing books except for Killing the SS (Nazi officers of post-WWII) and now to get this new Bill O’Reilly, it made me want to cry overall because I can’t physically talk to him about my excitement over this book and how amazingly well written it was. But to also get his full opinion on such matters on both sides of the coin of this book.
Even though I still have yet to read/listen to about four more of these, I remember how much my 91 year old grandpa who was born in 1928 just a year before the Great Depression in the USA, had loved and thoroughly enjoyed this series. One particular memory of my very first one I started with was Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General
and when I asked him if I could borrow it one time, he said yes of course, but he also said that when I was done and I came to return it, he wanted to talk to me about it. And so I did and it became a vivid and amazing cherished memory for me and will be for the rest of my life I’m sure every time I see, hear, or now read these books. I can’t tell you what was said except that he was excited to share a few stories about Patton but also a few other stories from the war at the time that were not mentioned in the book. It’s a memory and experience and moment I will always and truly remember as I heard his stories of the war and what it was like from his POV. So reading and listening to this book made me miss my grandpa all the more while going through this story and now I know that if he were still here, I know he’d still enjoy this one just as he enjoyed the others. So if I remember, I may go to his gravesite and talk to him about it before returning the book and book on CD before taking them back to the library.
Okay so onto the review of this book. Now, I can see that there’s going to be controversy on so many levels and yet I’m going to be brutally honest here and point out what
I PERSONALLY have read and saw with the Native Americans aka the Indians at the time but also when people complain or wonder if Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard’s information really is as accurate as can be, but I believe it really is and that most of those ‘complaining’ or ‘skeptical’ just don’t like what they read and/or hear sometimes. But remember, those involved in such things were also human just like we are today. They made mistakes so why complain and dwell on the freaking past instead of just moving on and learning from their mistakes or maybe making some things with more improvement? So to those who are skeptical and ‘complaining’ about some inaccuracies, stop with the whining, stop with the politics, and read the cursed and dang book as a history book and if you don’t like or can’t accept what’s actually found in history, then don’t read the book just to bash it and ruin it for other people who may enjoy these kinds of books and let them read what they freaking want and stop being all butt hurt over the past and just move on from it and learn from it.
Now, we know that there are moments in Indian history where the US leaders were cruel in the non-hostile Indians such as the Trail of Tears; and learning that there were specific orders to basically show compassion and other things towards the Cherokee, those illiterate didn’t get or understand the memo apparently and had mistreated those on the trail unfortunately.
Then we have the hostile Indians. Now, let’s see the definition of that word ‘hostile’ shall we? Just to refresh some memories? Hostile is:
“unfriendly; antagonistic, of or belonging to a military enemy Keeping those in mind, after reading/listening to the prologue and other stories of how horrific these deaths the hostile Indians killed their victims by raiding, raping women, ripping open pregnant women’s bellies and killed those babies inside them with a tomahawk in their skulls, their signature scalping, dismembering people to the point where it would be hard to tell if the person was male or female… in fact, let me give a few examples, shall I?
“Cochise is cruel when raiding. It is not enough to steal cattle and burn homes—or even murder. Sometimes, as when revenge is taken against a Mexican who has shot an Apache, or when interrogation is necessary to extract vital information, Cochise makes a point of asserting authority by killing his enemies slowly. Some are placed atop an anthill, where their bodies are then smothered in honey. Others are tied upside down to a tree branch until their head is just two feet off the ground. Cochise is fond of building a very small fire under these prisoners, just enough to slowly burn their scalp and fry their brains. Sometimes, if Apache women were present, Cochise allows them to skin the victim alive. This is the fate of many a Mexican who has blundered into Apache Pass.
Another favorite method of torture is more insidious: A one-inch incision is made at the base of the prisoner’s leg. The first layer of skin is then peeled away, all the way up the legs and back to the top of the head. Most men scream during this ordeal, which makes Cochise despise them. The Apache are trained to suffer in silence and expect the same from their prisoners. Screaming and begging are signs of weakness.” Squirm worthy, right? I mean, who would want to be tortured like that? Especially with the peeled back skin which sounds vividly spine chilling but makes one kinda squirm a little at the picture of it. Just *shudder*
Grossed out yet? Try this one….
“The after-battle report compiled by the American leadership at Fort Phil Kearny with detail the fates of the eighty-one U.S. soldiers: ‘Eyes torn out and laid on rocks, noses cut off, ears cut off, chins hewn off, teeth copped off, feet cut off, arms taken out from the socket, private parts severed and indecently placed on the person; eyes, ears, mouths, and arms penetrated with spear heads, sticks, and arrows; ribs slashed to separation with knives; skulls severed in any form, from chin to crown; muscles of calves, thighs, stomach, breast, back arms, and cheeks taken out; punctures of every sensitive part of the body, even to the soles of feet and palms of the hand.’” Yes, that’s what an Indian tribe did to really non-threatening Americans and during an Indian raid. Now, here’s one more incident from hostile Indians who attacked again these Americans who were only defending themselves from the hostile Indians which is actually the aftermath of more of those mentioned just now… it gets worse and just disgusting and sickening to the stomach if you really think about it.
“Enlisted men are to be buried two per casket, while the officers are interred privately. Eighty-one mutilated bodies are reassembled as best as possible, and arrows are removed or simply cut away. The living soldiers and offers alike offer up their spare uniforms so the naked corpses can be dressed and buried with dignity. But the Indians have performed their acts of desecration so well that there is no choice but to bury some of the dead in haunting fashion. Captain Frederick Hallam Brown, the post quartermaster whose frozen body will not thaw, has the misfortune of being buried just as he was discovered on the battlefield. ‘The privates of Capt. Brown were severed and placed in his mouth,’ one soldier will recall more than fifty years later. ‘Considering the nature of the extreme cold weather, they could not be extricated.’” You get the idea. Now, let’s put ourselves in the shoes and POV as an American in the 1800s hearing these indescribable, awful, disgusting, and horrific horror stories of these mutilations and even rapes of women done by the Indians on random raids and plundering basically. Or women and children maybe also being abducted and taken back to an Indian camp to be a part of the tribe against their will. In other words, I was freaked out by the hostile Indians I’ll be honest. The Americans just fought back. And when they tried to actually find a way to provide for the Indians and keep Americans safe, I get it when some tribes and those like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse wanted to fight back and keep their lands. I understand, but at the same time, why not share the land? Why not just work together instead of attacking, raping, plundering, mutilating, or taking children and women into their camp/tribe and just let the government try and help them and compromise?
And yet, of course the reservations failed at first because it was new, but also there were some who were pretty corrupt and took advantage of what would happen especially food wise. But overall, if you truly put yourself in this time period, in this era, and think very carefully about these horrific stories of killings and mutilations, and other things about hostile Indians, you can’t tell me you’d be scared to death—literally—for your family and for you own life. So it was no wonder these went and continued back and forth, really.
So my point is this: I know for years many have complained about how the US was cruel and brutal to the Indians, and yet, to get a whole new perspective as if on the other side of a coin, I kind of don’t blame the reaction to the Indians the Americans’ at this time period showed. Not that I’m justifying and/or condoning some actions on some things, but at the same time, the Indians who were hostile were also at fault in their own way; they too were cruel and utterly indescribably brutal to the American people. This book was amazingly well written, I loved every minute and page and chapter of it, and became one of my top 3 favorites of this series so far with the order being:
Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever
Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History
Killing Crazy Horse: The Merciless Indian Wars in America
Solid 5 stars, great set up of the Indian wars from basically 1813 to 1877 and leading up to the story and time of Crazy Horse, getting a play by play of the Battle of Little Bighorn aka Custer's last stand which was super interesting; it seriously was a brilliant and genius book and story. I loved every bit of it as I said but can't wait to go to the cemetery to tell my grandpa all about it! :)
Rating: really liked it
I listened to this book on a family trip to South Dakota since we intended to visit Custer Park and the Crazy Horse memorial. I wanted to learn more what went on there.
Well, the title isn't quite accurate as it went into a lot of the American and Native American conflicts all over the country, with different timelines throughout. Both Custer, Crazy Horse and the battle were all discussed but it was a small portion of the overall book.
The history of America is one of violence, greed and sadness which this book reflected.
Rating: really liked it
Well told and without bias. The horrors committed by the USA government and the Indian wars are equally repugnant. This books clearly, concisely functions as a introduction to great chiefs and military leaders, shows the current events and politics guiding treaties and the disregard of the same. This book looks at the cause and effects of policies and the grappling for home that forced two kinds of people into the Indians wars. So interesting. So tragic.
Rating: really liked it
4.5 stars listened via Libby
Finally, a Bill O'Reilly book NOT narrated by Bill O'Reilly. I have been dying to read his books but just cannot take his voice (or him for that matter). This book was equally eye opening and depressing. I now fully support the dismantling of certain statues around the US not only due to the treatment of African Americans but also the treatment of American Indians. I personally will spit on any statue I see of George Custer. It is AWFUL what man did to Indians. Like, we think people are awful now, but it is nothing compared to the lawlessness and complete disregard of human life men were like when we first established the US. In my opinion, only true readers of history can truly understand the world. You cannot understand the ways of the world today without knowing and attempting to understand the ways of the world in the past. Shame on those for being ignorant.
Rating: really liked it
Five plus stars for a fantastic read! What a great novel about American history. As always with all the O’Reilly/Dugard books I so enjoyed and appreciated the many footnotes, the fantastic maps and then the Bibliography. I’ve read many books about this period in our history and feel this one is the most honest and accurately written but also the most graphically violent in portraying the truth. Having read all the books in the Killing series I’d put this at the top of the list as a favorite.
Rating: really liked it
Another excellent addition to the Killing Series! O'Reilly and Dugard go to the wild west with a quick overview of the conflicts between Native American peoples and the U.S. government in the 19th Century. While the book is titled "Killing Crazy Horse", the authors don't just focus on the wars against the Sioux nation. Instead, the narrative begins in 1813 in Alabama and ends in 1877 in Montana. This is obviously a massive amount of history covering an immense amount of geography, but the authors do an excellent job in connecting the narratives chronologically with a pace that is easy and entertaining to follow. The climax of the story is the Sioux war with Custer's Last Stand and the eventual hunt for the Sioux leader, Crazy Horse. A great read for fans of western and U.S. history.
Rating: really liked it
I’ve generally liked this “Killing” series because it’s easy-to-read, accessible history. This book, however, lacked a clear theme and seemed to be a cobbled together collection of battles between native Americans and white westward expansionists. Seemed like they abused the notoriety of the series on this one to make a buck.
Rating: really liked it
Told brutally and intriguingly, we explore the historical clashes between US settlers and the Native Americans during the 1800s.
A (100%/Outstanding)
