Author(s): H. W. Brands (Contribution by)

History

William Tecumseh Sherman was a well-connected son of Ohio who attended West Point and rose to prominence through his scorched-earth campaigns in the Civil War. Geronimo grew up among the Apache people, roaming freely on the land, and became a relentless avenger after the brutal killing of his wife, children, and mother by Mexican soldiers. When Sherman rose to commanding general of the Army in 1869, he was tasked with bringing Geronimo and his followers onto a reservation where they would live as farmers and ranchers and roam no more. But Geronimo preferred to fight. Bestselling historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist H. W. Brands follows the lives of Sherman and Geronimo to tell the wider story of the Indian Wars and the final fight for control of the American continent. The result is a powerful retelling of a turning point in the making of our nation and a searing elegy for a way of life that is gone.