This is too broad a topic for a book of 300 pages. A writer could fill that many pages with the story of Crazy Horse alone. Going by the title, that’s what I thought I’d be getting here. What I got was a synopsis of the Indian wars of the 19th century. That’s my fault. I didn’t pay any attention to the full title, “Killing Crazy Horse: The Merciless Indian Wars in America”. But, although it wasn’t what I expected, it was a good read, as I’ve found all of O’Reilly’s and Dugard’s books to be. Taken as a primer for that subject, it is very well done. If you want an introduction, I do recommend it. I don’t dispute the authors’ scholarship, but it would have been nice to have seen a list of notes. All they provide is a short bibliography. Perhaps I’m from the old school where if you’re writing history, you document. Still, it’s a good overview of the stealing of land from a people, and the resulting wars. ( )

I listened to this as an audiobook. I remember learning some of what's covered in this book (at least the basics) while in school, but for some reason the span of time it took didn't register with me back then. I did get to see the partially completed Crazy Horse Monument when my family visited South Dakota (quite a few years ago now--some progress has been made on it, but I am somewhat surprised it still is not completed.)

I'm a bit ashamed at how many times the Native Americans were promised something (sometimes even in writing) only to have that taken away too when it suited the purposes of the United States. (giving land as a reservation, then taking it back because gold was found or because it was needed for expansion purposes etc.) I can't say I'm really surprised that some of the Native Americans distrusted the government and/or the military just based on that alone.

The book was a bit hard for me to follow all the events that happened (but that might have been because I listened to it and I tend to be doing other things while I'm listening). ( )

Killing Crazy Horse: The Merciless Indian Wars in America is the ninth of eleven books that currently make up the “Killing Series” co-authored by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. It’s the first book in the series since the very first one, Killing Lincoln, that I’ve read but my general impressions of the two books are similar. Both of the books present a good introduction to the subject at hand, but neither of them explore the topic in any real depth. This is particularly true for Killing Crazy Horse, a book that attempts to cover a volatile stretch of American history encompassing something like seventy-five years in so few pages.

The word “merciless” as used in the book’s subtitle most definitely applies to both sides. Mercy from the enemy was not something either side expected or was prepared to grant. Massacres of helpless Indian villages were as common as the massacre and torture groups of settlers that had gathered together in larger numbers for self-protection. Scalping and other corpse-mutilation was practiced by both the Indians being chased and by the American army trying to wipe them off the face of the entire continent. Mercy was rare, if it existed at all.

“Indian Fighters” were some of America’s first national celebrities, and a few of them even rode their newfound fame all the way to the presidency of the United States. And once in the White House, these same presidents pressed even harder to annihilate the only ways of life that Native Americans had ever known. Starving them to death, walking them to death, shooting and stabbing women and their children to death by the hundreds…nothing was off the table. Westward expansion was the new goal, the availability of so much “free land” was impossible to resist, and the discovery of gold was the icing on the cake. In the minds of too many, especially those in charge of American policy toward the Indians, the ends most certainly justified the means. Morality be damned.

Bottom Line: Killing Crazy Horse is a very good primer for readers wanting an overview of America’s nineteenth century Indian wars. As such, it will serve as a good jumping off spot for those wanting to explore some of what they read here in more depth. ( )

Another in the series of "killing books" from Bill O'Reilly and co-writer. The topic here being the raging battles of our American history with the Native Americans. The book covers in great detail the circumstances and facts surrounding the great land grab of the Indians and how both sides committed pretty gruesome atrocities.

For those who love history, as I do it is a great read that fills in many details of what is usually glossed over or given short shrift in out standardized texts. Many of the well know names such as Crazy Horse, Blackhawk, Sitting Bull, and Geronimo are covered in good detail.

The culmination of course it the big battle at Little Bighorn memorialized as the beginning of the very end for Indian autonomy and freedom. And of course also for General Custer's blunders and annihilation. Blame can be handed out on both sides in these confrontations but it is clear that property rights were not given much credence when considering out natives and their welfare.

This one is disappointing. Not titled accurately either. First half is horrific histories of earlier periods from the 1830s until after the Civil War. The first half of the book appears just filler because the authors didn’t have enough content to write an entire book based on Crazy Horse--and that's already been done. The second half is about the Northern plains Indians, discusses the battle of Little Big Horn and ends with Chief Joseph, 1876 and: "....from where the sun now stands, I will fight no more, forever." This book is "basic" nineteenth century American history. Nothing new here....move along. ( )