Geronimo
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
This "meticulous and finely researched" biography tracks the Apache raider's life from infamous renegade to permanent prisoner of war (Publishers Weekly).
Notorious for his ferocity in battle and uncanny ability to elude capture, the Apache fighter Geronimo became a legend in his own time and remains an iconic figure of the nineteenth century American West. In Geronimo, renowned historian Robert M. Utley digs beneath the myths and rumors to produce an authentic and thoroughly researched portrait of the man whose unique talents and human shortcomings swept him into the fierce storms of history.
Utley draws on an array of newly available sources, including firsthand accounts and military reports, as well as his geographical expertise and deep knowledge of the conflicts between whites and Native Americans. This highly accurate and vivid narrative unfolds through the alternating perspectives of whites and Apaches, arriving at a more nuanced understanding of Geronimo's character and motivation than ever before.
What was it like to be an Apache fighter-in-training? Why was Geronimo feared by whites and Apaches alike? Why did he finally surrender after remaining free for so long? The answers to these and many other questions fill the pages of this authoritative volume.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Meticulous and finely researched, Utley's (The Lance and the Shield) account of Geronimo's life attempts to dismiss the legend of an "Apache daredevil fighting for his homeland." Compiled from various firsthand accounts and military records, the book traces the life of the Chiricahua warrior from fearless raider to subdued reservation Indian. Living free of government control until 1876, Geronimo ravaged the area of the present-day Arizona/Sonora border for decades, focusing particular vehemence on the Mexican side as retribution for the (assumed) massacre of his first family when he was 28. Not until the late 1870s did Geronimo gain notoriety on the American side of the border, when "he came to personify all the Apache raiders, both in the minds of victims and in newspapers throughout the nation." He lived most of his life highly suspicious of everyone, even his own people, always "coiled to stampede to Mexico," where he could hide himself in the nearly impenetrable Sierra Madre. Multiple breakouts from reservations in Arizona and New Mexico cemented his fame as one of the last Apache war heroes. At times detail cluttered and distant, the book occasionally glosses over horrific events. However, Utley achieves his goal of humanizing Geronimo, fastidiously showing the transition from bloodthirsty raider to subservient prisoner of war, fair attraction and, eventually, entrepreneur.
