Little Big Horn

by Robert Nightengale

Book Overview

Robert Nightengale's book "Little Big Horn" is a very important add to the understanding of the battle. As an ex-marine, Nightengale dissects the evidences in the Reno Court of Inquiry. His findinds... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0965288900
• ISBN13: 9780965288903
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Far West Publishing
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 2.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 8.7" x 11.2"

Customer Reviews

Nightengale Flames Benteen

I've read a few books on LBH and Custer and this one takes the cake for going after Capt. Benteen. If Custer had attacked the Indians with half the vigor that Nightengale goes after Benteen, Custer would have died in a rockingchair in the 1930s instead of the dusty plains of Montana in 1876. I imagine someone with more knowledge of the fight could take the arguments presented in this book to task. I found the points raised provocative, fun and funny. My biggest beef is the high price. The book is crammed with glossy photos and old paintings but hardly any worth looking at and many only vaguely connected to the text. Stylistically, it reminds me of a "coffee table" book--the type you'll often see in the 50%-70%-off pile at the national bookstores. This book would make a good paperback and would have gotten five stars if $10 were taken off the price. If you're a LBH nut go ahead and buy the book--you'll enjoy the unique perspectives. If you're a beginner you'd be better off buying two or three other titles for the same price.

This man is no amateur

We finally have a view of the battlefield from an amateur. what a breath of fresh air i've recieved! it's a game that we as a country have been playing for so long. cover the facts, hide the blame, dead men tell no tales. Mr Nightengale has brought forth a version of this battle and it's clear that custer followed military protocol of that era. the question is, why, when reno was on the hill,and the enemy was carrying the 7th's gidion, did he not acknowledge custer needing support? Benteen, was told to bring up the packs, big village. He watered his horses on the way! The battle field in Montana is littered with graves. this book is the closest i've been to the truth of what happins when a command breaks down. Military duty on the western frontier was a dirty business. Farm boys looking to get off the farm, and thieves,lowlifes,con-men,gamblers, looking for a free ride to the west. This wasn't the civil war days. Custer had an unruly cast of deserters. I commend Bob Nightengale for letting us see the cowards, and the brave men that made up the 7TH calvary.

Good source book

This is a good source book on Custer. Undoes much of the revisionist history on Custer, who was a scapegoat for the Grant Administration. Custer did follow orders that day, but had to alter his plans to fit the unexpected circumstances. The big lesson in this is that we should not second guess the commander in the field and use his ememies to testify against him.

I'm glad the truth is beginning to come out in several books

A very good summation of what happened when Custer went against the Grant administration and suffered the consequences. Long known as the "Indian Fighter", it was actually his testimony against corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and within the Grant administration, and corruption and ineptness at the highest government and Army levels that set the stage for the Little Big Horn. It is time for the truth to overcome the misinformation of the revisionist Custer "historian". Bravo

Invaluable resource quide

Although there is little "new" here for the long-time Custer student, this is an invaluable source for the new student, putting all the pertinent information in a tidy package which would otherwise take dozens of books and remembering what was in which book. I don't agree with all of Nightengale's conclusions but he makes a good case for Custer having "followed the book" that day (and this is confirmed by Panzeri's Osprey Campaign series "LBH 1876" and Callwell's "Small Wars" after the fact) I recommend it for all new students of Custer's Last Stand and even a few of the older ones who could use a refresher course.linda t Dunedin FL