Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
In the summer of 1846, the Army of the West marched through Santa Fe, en route to invade and occupy the Western territories claimed by Mexico. Fueled by the new ideology of “Manifest Destiny,” this land grab would lead to a decades-long battle between the United States and the Navajos, the fiercely resistant rulers of a huge swath of mountainous desert wilderness.
In Blood and Thunder, Hampton Sides gives us a magnificent history of the American conquest of the West. At the center of this sweeping tale is Kit Carson, the trapper, scout, and soldier whose adventures made him a legend. Sides shows us how this illiterate mountain man understood and respected the Western tribes better than any other American, yet willingly followed orders that would ultimately devastate the Navajo nation. Rich in detail and spanning more than three decades, this is an essential addition to our understanding of how the West was really won.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
Hero of the American West
Customer Rating:
You know all those novels and movies with the absurd plot line about some impossible misson and there is only "One Man" who can do it? Well, Kit Carson was that man. This book is not so much a biography of Kit Carson as it is a history of the expansion of the American West told through the life of Kit Carson. He was the man who was there at every point. He helped explore the western trails to Oregon and California, helped take control of Los Angeles from the Mexicans, helped fight the Confederates when they tried to take New Mexico, and (against his better morals) fought to contain the fierce Navajo Indians.
Carson was a humble man, in no small part due to his illiteracy. He did everything from fur trapping, trading, exploring, hunting, soldiering, Indian fighting, farming, and more. He was always in the right place at the right time. He loved the West and he loved the people that lived there. He came to understand the Indians like few others, learning many of their languages.
But his real fame came from his unbelievable exploits: sneaking through enemy lines, dissuading hostile Indians using their own tongue, obliterating Confederate forces, and fighting off numerous Indians single-handedly. "Blood and Thunder" dime novels began to pop up throughout the country, exaggerating Carson's heroism. While his life of glory may seem to have deserved a gallant death in a battle for glory, the humble Carson instead suffered a slow, painful bed-ridden death. But the legacy he unintentionally created managed to live on for a long while after.
Sides is an incredible writer, creating vivid imagery and deftly tying all relevant events together.
history at its best!
Customer Rating:
This is a remarkably informative and well written book. This is the way historical narratives ought to be written, with great immediacy and drama that bring the events to life, but with all the benefits of hindsight and reflection. It is scrupulously fair to all the participants and provides a wealth of knowledge about all the cultures involved.
Excellant reading
Customer Rating:
Hampton Sides has done a masterful job of telling the story of Kit Carson and the settlement of the American West, especailly New Mexico. Blood and Thunder reads as entertainingly as a novel. Larry Carter
Great Blood a lot of Thunder
Customer Rating:
I have enjoyed this book as much as John Adams. Preconcieved ideas of history are put to rest. For the most part this is a part of history that has not been well documented for me. There was Lewis and Clark and then a big gap. This fills in the gap and is a must read.
great choice for history buffs & western fans
Customer Rating:
A history of expansion into the southwest wrapped around a biography of Kit Carson. Wonderfully entertaining the more so for being historically accurate.
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