The story of Kit Carson and the conquest of the wild west.

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	• Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West Hampton Sides Random House Audio, 2006 average customer review:based on 134 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Superb work of history.

"Blood and Thunder" is one of the best-written and evenhanded histories which I have ever read. I was sorry when I had finished it as I could have happily read it if it had been 500 hundred pages longer. There was no maudlin sympathy for the Indians but, instead, a fair recognition of their predicament and of their patterns of life which made their unaltered co-existence with the Mexican and American settlers impossible, i.e. a tradition of raiding, taking slaves, and stealing. As for the Mexican and American settlers, there was a fair treatment of their virtues as well as their depredations. Kit Carson is entitled to our greatest admiration and respect. He was a unique and marvelous American whose accomplishments almost defy belief. His humility is so refreshing when compared to today's practice by so many of self-adulation and self-promotion. His final words to his doctor and friend were touching and typical of this extraordinary and historically important man. Bravo!

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The story of Kit Carson and the conquest of the wild west.

This is a superbly done, detailed account of the mid-nineteenth century centered around the remarkable exploits of Kit Carson, the Indian tribes who populated the Southwest in this period and our conflict with Mexico over ownership of this territory. This is the best read I've had in at least a year; I couldn't put it down.

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Battling the insurgents

Very interesting. The United States Army rides into New Mexico in 1846 with modern cannon and easily sweeps away the corrupt Mexican dictatorship. The army is led by an Ivy League, progressive soldier named General Stephen Kearny. The general announces the liberation and establishes an open, inclusive government. But "the real war in New Mexico was not between the Americans and the Mexicans, but rather between the nomadic Mexican tribes and everyone else. He had stumbled into an age-old conflict that showed no signs of abatting with the American presence." Perhaps our troops in Iraq can read this story in their spare time.

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Blood and Thunder book review

I'll get on the bandwagon. This was a great read. The writing was very good but the subject was almost unbelievable. I always just assumed Kit Carson was another hyperbolic character out of the west, as cartoonish as Yosemite Sam, and bloviated as Wild Bill. Wrong! Astounding story which the author handles with color and style
Admittedly the author's jumping around to different parralel story lines was a bit distracting, it had the effect of starting a bunch of backfires that did however manage to all feed into a great page burner.
Living out here in the SW (Durango) and having spent a lot of time exploring New Mexico it was fascinating to read of so many of the places I've been to and imagine these landscapes before the internal combustion engine.(infernal) This book is well worth the time, especially for it's refocusing of the Navajo's 'plight'. So much has been done to vilify Carson's Canyon DeChelly campaign and the brutal Long Walk he inflicted on the Navajo to Bosque Redondo, that the previous and centuries long history of Navajo tyranny has been glossed over in modern understanding. The Anasazi (Navajo for 'enemy ancestor's') and their departing this region for the pueblo's of New Mexico takes on a more real meaning when I come to understand that the Unites States did to the Navajo what the Navajo were doing to their neighbors, take their land and control it with force.

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Very interesting, very readable!

Blood and Thunder is the story of Kit Carson and the settling of the West. It's very interesting, good details, and very readable for a person who often reads historical fiction as opposed to non-fiction. It was recommended by several friends who raved about how good it is. I agree!

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

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