Empire of the Summer Moon

Author is a skilled and highly readable writer. Makes sweeping claims about all native Americans in such a way that i questions his purported objectivity. Some claims are inaccurate, for example, the dates he gives for when farming was first discovered in the Americas (p. 46). As there are so many wonderful books to read in the world, I will not be continuing with this one.

Easily the best history book I've ever read. It's crazy the absolute horrific atrocities that humans have done to each other and this wasn't 200 years ago. The narrative of today's history is “look what the evil white man did to the poor innocent natives” when there is so much more to the story then you could ever perceive on your own. Yes the white man did horrible, awful things to innocents but the sheer barbarism the Native warriors not only did to innocent whites, but to other tribes, is something out of a nightmare.

This book tells more about the Comanches as a whole more than Quanah Parker but I'm honestly glad of that since he's probably the least interesting part of the whole book. The story sheds some light on how tragic frontier life was. Cynthia Ann Parker being abducted several times, living a life of misery. Quanah living a life of vengeance. Pioneers and natives facing horrific murders. It really is a sad story but extremely interesting and I would recommend to anyone.

Awesome overview of the Comanches and the plains Indians as the Spanish and then Americans settled Texas and Oklahoma.

Wow, really had no idea about the Comanches. I found this a good entry point into understanding the USA's expansion into the Midwest.

This is a fascinating account of the Comanche Indians, covering most of the 19th Century. My bookclub selected this book because we're aware that few non-Native Americans know much about the people who were displaced by European settlers. Gwynne portrays them as brutal people, rapidly emerging from the stone age. I wonder if the focus of the book loses some balance, though, as I know the white settlers were also capable of brutality and were, in fact, stealing the land from the Indians. While those facts are there, the book's emphasis is elsewhere. Very detailed, but highly readable.

This was totally fascinating!

This extensively researched history of the Comanche should be required reading for every American. Gwynne manages to transform what could be an exhaustively detailed dry account into a gripping tale of historical scale. Not for the squeamish, Gwynne pulls no punches in his account - a major plus as far as I am concerned as the truth in this chapter should not be edited. The book contains tons of fascinating fact. For instance, did you know that Buffalo Hump (born ca. late 1790s to early 19th century — died 1870) was a Native American War Chief of the Penateka band of the Comanche Indians. His Nʉmʉ tekwapu (Comanche) name, properly transliterated, was Po-cha-na-quar-hip which meant “erection that won't go down” ? Or, that Isa-tai (“Wolf's Vulva” c.1840 — c.1890) was a Comanche warrior and medicine man of the Quahadi band. Originally named Quenatosavit (White Eagle), after the debacle at Adobe Walls he was known as Isa-tai which translates as “wolf's vulva” or “coyote vagina” ?

Gwynne uses the life of Quanah Parker and Quanah's family as his focus to tie the epic saga together and provide a bigger than life character the reader can bond with. The Parker family could have their own book and the story of Quanah Parker is uniquely apropos as a microcosm of the larger story of the Native American tribes. If I could recommend only one book and it couldn't be any Brautigan or Vonnegut or Dick or Steinbeck or Robbins or McMurtry plus it had to be non-fiction then this would be it! :)