When I read this book, I really wanted to focus just on Miles and his contributions to the Indian Frontier since he virtually closed it out. I learned far more about Miles, a highly skilled and brave field commander who rose all the way to command of the Army by the Spanish American War, than I expected. I was aware of his tremendous ego but I learned more about his political intrigues, compulsion for rank, rivalries with other officers and attraction to crowds and newspapermen. Wooster takes you rather quickly through Miles' youth and astounding CW achievements and spends a good portion on Miles and the Indian Frontier. He outlines quite in impressive detail Miles constant maneuvering for command and reforms, his controversies with Generals and Presidents including Teddy Roosevelt. Miles was involved in the Sioux campaigns, Sitting Bull, Grey Beard, Cheyenne, Nez Perce and Geronimo and the Spanish American War. After reading the book you will have a mixed feel for Miles. Did he want to be in the midst of the action just to participate in an intense challenge or was it always to as a platform to achieve rank? His politics later in life were anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant but he later worked to get the Indians a better deal and he preferred the emancipation of the Philippines after the Spanish American War. He is an important read, he was even in over all command but not the field officer at Wounded Knee. Miles saw many of the most famous Chiefs at their peak and literally escorted them to their final homes, the reservations. Wooster writes an incredibly objective book on a person who contributed tremendously to our history from 1860 to 1910.

General Nelson A. Miles wrote a detailed, history- filled accounts of the Red River Wars and other Indian battles. Illustrations by F. Remington were a big surprise to me, as it was of a direct relative, William F. Schmalsle, Indian Scout, Guide, and Courier. The rescue of the German Sisters is a heartfelt experience. The reader will feel like one is living in the Old West, with all the joys, adventures, and tribulations that the characters experienced. The references in the back offer one further insight into the past. As Miles was involved in other battles besides those with the Indians, the history buff will find a lot of references in the back of the book which will result in many hours of pleasurable research and reading. The General Miles history trail may lead you to a long lost relative, as I found out, with numerous sources of information. So try reading the General Miles books from your library and if you like, order them from Amazon and take them home, or take them camping in the woods and plains, visit the historical places mentioned.

My over all impression of this book is positive. The author paints an accurate picture of the historical situation of the time. Wooster takes a close look at an often-misunderstood period of history. The detail of military strategy against the western tribes give the reader the feel of the average solder but the Indian's view point is often over looked. My understanding of this episode in history has been advance by this book. The image of the highly organized military of my personal experience was not found among the pages of Wooster's book. The most illuminating aspect of the book was the information about the national political arena that civilian and military leaders both were required to maneuver in. Wooster's sources are of the highest quality available, most of them written by the actual figures in the book. His over reliance of sources from only one side of the history is the only weakness of the sources. Correspondence or a set of official orders can support nearly every paragraph in the book. It is unfortunate there are not as many records among the Indian leaders.

Hardorff writes well but its an awful waste of time to put out two small books, one for the Dakota and one for the Cheyenne which are essentially reprints of the Camp interviews. It is nice to have these interviews available but you can order Camp direct. This particular book I thought was flawed because it starts with American Horse who by all other accounts (but his own) was not in the Little Bighorn Fight.

As it reviews only 50 book, plus a few honorable mentions, this book obviously covers only a very small portion of books on the Civil War. The author admits to liking biographies and books that present the "big picture". This is reflected in his selections, in which only one book on a campaign (Sears' on the Antietam campaign) is included. A couple of fiction items make the list: "The Red Badge of Courage" and "Killer Angels". Wooster not only rates McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom" #1, but says it "ranks among the world's greatest books". Each of the 50 books is given a three or four page review, but comparing the amount of information in them to the shorter reviews of the same books in Eicher, I felt Eicher did a better job in less space. Wooster also consistently misspells Mary Chesnut's name as Chestnut. However, Wooster is more up to date, including several books published since Eicher came out in 1997. But all in all, I expect to get more use out of Eicher.