The Story of the Little Big Horn: Custer's Last Fight

by W. A. Graham

Overview

First published in 1926 and respected ever since for its measured view of the most famous battle in the American West, The Story of the Little Big Horn asks questions that are still being debated. What were the causes of the debacle that wiped out Custer's command? Was it due to lack of a definite battle plan? To lack of correct information about the number, organization, and equipment of the Indians? To Custer's hot-headedness and thirst for glory? To Reno's alleged cowardice? To Benteen's delay in providing reinforcement? In his factual but dramatic account, W. A. Graham suggests that an awesome concatenation of attitudes and circumstances ensured the defeat of the Seventh Cavalry. On that Sunday in June 1876, the Indians were simply better (though not braver) soldiers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803270268
Publisher:	UNP - Bison Books
Publication date:	09/01/1988
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.73(d)

About the Author

William A. Graham, 1875-1954, studied at Beloit College in Wisconsin, Stanford University, and the University of Iowa, from which he received a law degree in 1897. Graham practiced law until 1912, when he joined the Iowa National Guard. Although he saw active duty, he spent most of his Army career as a judge advocate. In 1919 he began to study the battle of the Little Big Horn, and first published The Story of the Little Big Horn in 1925. He later published The Reno Court of Inquiry: Abstract of the Official Record of Proceedings and The Custer Myth: A Source Book of Custeriana. Brian C. Pohanka, one of the nation’s leading authorities on the life of the common soldier of the Civil War, is a frequent consultant of film and the television producers on Civil War reenacting and living history. Formerly an assistant editor and researcher for the Time-Life Books Civil War series, he is the author of Distant Thunder: A Photographic Essay on the American Civil War and Civil War: An Aerial Portrait. Pohanka is also active in Custer and Little Bighorn studies, including archaeological work on the Little Bighorn Battlefield. He works as a freelance writer and consultant from his home in Alexandria, Virginia.

Editorial Reviews

The most authentic and absolutely reliable story of the Battle of the Little Big Horn.” – E. A. Brininstool, Troopers with Custer

E. A. Brininstool

The first real history of the Battle of the Little Big Horn.” – Charles Kuhlman, Legend into History

Charles Kuhlman

"[Graham] has weighed and presented all the available evidence in a commendably judicious manner. . . . [The] undeniable facts . . . make a fairly simple story, and that story is essentially the record of an unnecessary sacrifice of brave men’s lives."—New York Times

New York Times

"[Graham's] report [is] very convincing, because marked by justice, conscientiousness, and industry."—New York Herald Tribune

New York Herald Tribune