Download PDF Blood and Thunder The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West Hampton Sides 9781400031108 Books
Download As PDF : Blood and Thunder The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West Hampton Sides 9781400031108 Books
A magnificent history of the American conquest of the West; "a story full of authority and color, truth and prophecy" (The New York Times Book Review).
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.
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.
Download PDF Blood and Thunder The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West Hampton Sides 9781400031108 Books
"Remember the old Tonight Show when Ed or Johnny would drop a factoid and the other would reply "I.did.not.know. that!"? Found myself doing that a lot as I read this even though I thought I knew a good bit about this historical period. Details related to the Mexican War, Western settlement, Civil War, Indian Wars, and the Fremont expeditions I thought I had down but was continually impressed as the story emerged. Kit Carson I was only slightly familiar with but sure know him a lot better now. Fascinating material, told from a variety of viewpoints and perspectives and written in a novelistic style that held my attention. If my history books were this well done in my school days I think I would have been a heck of a lot better at staying awake. Great book by Sides, one of my favorites of the year."
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Blood and Thunder The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West Hampton Sides 9781400031108 Books Reviews :
Blood and Thunder The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West Hampton Sides 9781400031108 Books Reviews
- This is so much more than a history of Kit Carson. This isn't a history of innocent Native Americans being victimized by evil white people. This is a complicated portrait of a man who both lived like a Native American, married and had children with a Native American and ruthlessly slaughtered Native Americans. This is the story of the real West, not a romanticized version of Indians or the Americans who settled the West.
- Remember the old Tonight Show when Ed or Johnny would drop a factoid and the other would reply "I.did.not.know. that!"? Found myself doing that a lot as I read this even though I thought I knew a good bit about this historical period. Details related to the Mexican War, Western settlement, Civil War, Indian Wars, and the Fremont expeditions I thought I had down but was continually impressed as the story emerged. Kit Carson I was only slightly familiar with but sure know him a lot better now. Fascinating material, told from a variety of viewpoints and perspectives and written in a novelistic style that held my attention. If my history books were this well done in my school days I think I would have been a heck of a lot better at staying awake. Great book by Sides, one of my favorites of the year.
- This is a great book about how the West opened and closed at the same time. The reason we as a culture deify this time period, is because the most unlikely of souls, like Kit Carson, find the space and time to become great men and achieve great things, which could never happen in the strangulated East. Also, it is the only time in which men capable of recording events met with native peoples at their height just before the induced decline. The author does a great job of balancing perspective, which is tricky given the subject matter. This is an ugly time in history. I personally found the balanced perspective well handled.
- My knowledge of the history of our Western expansion and, in particular, our dealings with Native Americans is very limited. In the last year I've taken steps to correct that deficiency by reading a few excellent histories in that subject area. This book does a great deal to help with my ignorance. It is an excellent treatment that is both engaging, well written, and thought provoking. Its focus is primarily on Northern New Mexico and the Four Corners area and while it is a history of that area it is also a rather full biography of Kit Carson. One of the reasons I enjoyed the book was because my wife and I have enjoyed a few vacations in this area. It is always fascinating to read about how places that you've visited had a role in the history of that area. In any event this book, like others I have recently read illustrates what a sad period of our history this is. The clash of two cultures and the search for a reasonable solution. On the one hand the primitive and violent Native American people that had no written language, little art, no architecture and absolutely no authoritative governing structure. These people had a way of life as hunter-gatherers and raiders that was unchanged for unknown numbers of generations. Opposing them were the encroaching Whites who were vastly more advanced technologically but were not so far removed from their primitive natures that it couldn't be resorted to in short order. Neither side had any understanding of the other and resort to violence was the usual result of this ignorance. Carson seems to have a better insight than most based on his years of association with various Indian tribes. His epiphany, however, occurs only after decades of exploits bathed in blood and scalps. The truth is that this culture clash was an example of cultural Darwinism. Unless the Native population could adapt and evolve to meet the changing times they were doomed to extinction. Of course the Indians abhorred change and revered the "Old Ways" and their traditions so change could only come by force. After reading this book I started to wonder how our native peoples might have evolved had the whites left them alone; if Gene Roddenbury's invention of "Star Trek's" Prime Directive had been in force and adhered to. Of course the same speculation could be made for the people of sub-Saharan Africa as well. But that was never to happen. The European tribes evolved more quickly and in different ways and overran the planet infecting these less advanced cultures who either joined the parade or got stamped into the earth. Unfortunately, that was the fate of the Native Americans. If there was a more reasonable solution to be had at that time I can't see what it might have been.
- Very good. Well-written and comprehensive. I had always viewed the Navajos as a peaceful, agrarian people. This book demonstrates their history as warriors. Also provides nuance on the role of Kit Carson as an Indian fighter and the nature of the conflicts from that era generally. My only criticism is that the book could have used some maps to make it better. Interesting insights on the Anasazi and the other tribes in the southwest as well. Highly recommended.
- A very comprehensive history of the conquering of the west and southwestern United States. By using Kit Carson as the focus of the book the history takes on a personal aspect and examines the life of one of the frontier's greatest mountain men. Having traveled and explored much of the Southwest myself I could easily see the places that Sides was describing, whether his reference was modern or from the 19th century. Sides is an honest historian and doesn't hide from the shameful acts perpetrated against the Native Americans. Neither does he portray the Native Americans as blame free. or characterize them as the "noble savage". For me, this was as good as a history read gets.
- I gave this book 5 stars because it was a very interesting book to read and it was hard to put down. I liked the author's style of writing. The fact that he tried to make all of these people that are part of our history reachable to the reader as real people, something that we can understand, in real time as much as possible made the reading so interesting, as if you were there, watching history unfold. He did a good job in writing it . It's very interesting. If you're interested in the American Wild West, as it was called, or stories about Kit Carson , the Indian "wars," etc, it's a good book to read, worthy of your time.
