Product Description

"Sitting Bull, leader of the largest Indian nation on the continent, the strongest, boldest, most stubborn opponent of European influence, was the very heart and soul of the frontier. When the true history of the New World is written, he will receive his chapter. For Sitting Bull was one of the makers of America." --Stanley Vestal

One night, long ago, Tatanka Iyotanka--Sitting Bull--stepped into the faint light of a kerosene lantern. Jerome Stillson of the New York Herald looked into the eyes of the world's most famous American Indian--and living mystery. "Your face is dark," Stillson told him. "My people do not see it." What Stillson said remains true to this day. Sitting Bull's name is still the best known of any American Indian leader, but his life and legacy remain shrouded with misinformation and half-truths. Sitting Bull's life spanned the entire clash of cultures and ultimate destruction of the Plains Indian way of life. He was a powerful leader and a respected shaman, but neither fully captures the enigma of Sitting Bull. He was a good friend of Buffalo Bill and skillful negotiator with the American government, yet erroneously credited with both murdering Custer at the Little Big Horn and with being the chief instigator of the Ghost Dance movement. The reality of his life, as Bill Yenne reveals in his absorbing new portrait, Sitting Bull, is far more intricate and compelling. Tracing Sitting Bull's history from a headstrong youth and his first contact with encroaching settlers, through his ascension as the spiritual and military leader of the Lakota, friendship with a Swiss-American widow from New York, and death at the hands of the Indian police on the eve of the massacre at Wounded Knee, Yenne scoured rare contemporary records and consulted Sitting Bull's own "Hieroglyphic Autobiography" in the course of his research. While Sitting Bull was the leading figure of Plains Indian resistance his message, as Yenne explains, was of self-reliance, not violence. At the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Sitting Bull was not confronting Custer as popular myth would have it, but riding through the Lakota camp making sure the most defenseless of his tribe--the children--were safe. In Sitting Bull we find a man who, in the face of an uncertain future, helped ensure the survival of his people.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #252452 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781594160608
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Amazon Significant Seven, April 2008: As a celebrated warrior, shaman, and leader of the Lakota tribe, Sitting Bull was both a fascinating and frightening icon to the expanding United States, a 19th-century cross-cultural superstar who was at once a friend to Buffalo Bill and the emblem of Native American resistance in the face of the westward settlement. In Sitting Bull, Bill Yenne has produced a fascinating and exhaustively researched biography, drawing from contemporary sources as well as the iconic leader's own "Hieroglyphic Autobiography" (a series of pictographs depicting pivotal events in his life) to create an informal and relaxed account that still packs an amazing amount of detail. Recounting the exploits of the budding warrior known as Jumping Badger, his misunderstood role in the Battle of Little Big Horn, and his death on the eve of the massacre at Wounded Knee, Sitting Bull cuts through legend to place the Lakota leader square into his own cultural context, spurning the usual wasichu filters or biases. --Jon Foro

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In this stirring biography, Yenne, author of numerous books on the history of the American West (Indian Wars, On the Trail of Lewis and Clark, etc.), captures the extraordinary life of Plains Indian leader Sitting Bull while providing new insight into the nomadic culture of the Lakota. Born in 1831, Sitting Bull witnessed the downfall of his people's way of life nearly from start to finish-despite some clashes, "the Lakota supremacy on the northern Plains remained essentially unchallenged" until the 1850s. Yenne describes how hostilities increased after the 1849 California gold rush, and were exacerbated by the opening of the railroad; conflicts and broken treaties would harden many Lakota against the colonists, including Sitting Bull. A high point is Yenne's account of how celebrity journalism created the myth of Custer's Last Stand, casting the general as hero and Sitting Bull as the villain, and how the US cavalry's defeat was used to justify forcing Indians off their land and onto reservations. The last half of the book describes Sitting Bull's unsuccessful attempts to defend the Lakota's land and culture through negotiation and peaceful resistance, alongside a dismal record of government betrayal and neglect. In this remarkable, tragic portrait, Sitting Bull emerges as a thoughtful, passionate and very human figure. 60 illustrations.
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From Booklist
History professor DeGroot analyzes the mythic dimensions of the ’60s against the reality of disappointed idealism and lost opportunity. Despite nostalgia for the decade, a legacy of self-indulgence—sexual and drug-related—clouds analysis of the ideals as diverse as those of Students for a Democratic Society and Young Americans for Freedom. Lamenting the need to “cast aside the rose-tinted spectacles” to see the “mindless mayhem, shallow commercialism, and unbridled cruelty,” DeGroot argues that much has been omitted from the national memory of the ’60s and aims to set the record straight by focusing as much on the lesser-known achievements of the decade. He concedes that critics will point out his own omissions, including Angela Davis, Andy Warhol, Stanley Kubrick, and Jean-Paul Sartre. He begins with a prelude, setting the stage for the baby boomers and what was to come in social foment around the world, and moves on to analyze the seeds of the civil rights movement to unrest in other nations, including South Africa, Cuba, and Vietnam. A wide-ranging look at a tumultuous decade. --Vanessa Bush

Customer Reviews

A really great book! The Real Sitting Bull, Lakota
Much has been heard and written on the Lakota chief Sitting Bull, famed from the battle at Little Big Horn, he was cast as the villian, the killer of Custer. He met Annie Oakley and he and she got along wonderfully. Sitting Bull was a headliner in Buffalo Bill's Wild West for a year and the photographs of him and Bill Cody are well known. This book covers all of the life of Sitting Bull, and traces his trials and tribulations, from the leader of a people faced with attacks by the US Army, driven from one spot to another, their supplies and winter food burned and destroyed, the bison which covered the plains in his youth, dropped to below a 1000 animals during his lifetime. A wise man, a humble man, a man not to be trifled with, he was brave, not afraid to take a life, not afraid to be kind and gentle with children, but a strong leader to his people and devoted to them. The author does a wonderful job in telling this story, well written, well organized, an enthralling story. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to understand the life of one of the most important Native Americans of the late 1800s.

Good book sad story.
SITTING BULL
Bill Yenne

Sitting Bull by Bill Yenne is an interesting read. Yenne utilizes Stanley Vestal, Jerome Stillson of the New York Herald, Sitting Bull's Hieroglyphic Autobiography, and an assortment of first hand accounts to present this historic American Indian. For all of us "Custer People", there is a chapter on the Little Bighorn Battle in which Yenne writes "Custer probably feared that if he delayed his attack for another twenty-four hours - as he planned - then Gibbon would be a day closer and Custer would have to share this victory with him". There is an argument which establishes a good book. The book is filled with informative and controversial quotes. Yenne frequently dwells on Washington's government officials arguing over the necessary actions to solve their Indian dilemma. Politicians and red tape do not make a good western adventure, unfortunately that was their role in the history of the American West. I want to be with Custer out on the plains or in an Indian camp, not in an office in Washington.
Overall, the book was very good. Even the cover with Sitting Bull's picture and autograph is notable.

Very good content - poorly published
The critic's review of this book is right on: the book is well researched and written. The maps and photographs were much appreciated.

However, I found the abundance of typographical errors absolutely maddening. It's not unusual to find one, perhaps two type-set errors in any book, but the number of misspelled words and mangled sentences here was ridiculous. Not only are typos a discredit to the author's hard work, but they disrupt the flow of reading. As a reader, I want to interpret the author's sentence, not the typesetters mistakes.

While I recommend this book for content, I suggest waiting for a second print run which will hopefully correct the too numerous errors. As someone who enjoys collecting hard bound books for my library and supporting an author by paying the hard bound price, I was very disappointed that a book retailing at $30.00 was so poorly printed.