Interesting subject matter, terrible writing

This book was such a slog for me.  I even stopped reading for a bit and read an old favorite (review forthcoming).  Little Big Horn and Custer’s last stand should be interesting–but this was just so dry.  Moreover, the information was presented in such a jumbled fashion.  It was neither chronologically or thematically organized.  It might have been better for someone with more pre-existing knowledge about Little Big Horn, but as someone who had only very general knowledge going in, I really needed the information to be more clearly presented.    This book is also mainly just a recounting of what happened and when without much exploration as to why things happened or how they fit into what else was going on in the world.  There are so many interesting themes and topics that could have been better explored (US westward expansion, soldier as hero, native american culture in the face of US oppression, etc.)

I read In the Heart of the Sea by this same author and liked it, so I was surprised by how bad I found this book.  I’m still giving it two stars because I did learn a lot about the battle–but there has to be a better source out there.