Author: Hampton Sides<br />File Type: epub<br />A magnificent history of the American conquest of the West a story full of authority and color, truth and prophecy (The New York Times Book Review)In the summer of 1846, the Army of the West marched through Santa Fe, en route to invade and occupy the Western territories claimed by Mexico. Fueled by the new ideology of Manifest Destiny, this land grab would lead to a decades-long battle between the United States and the Navajos, the fiercely resistant rulers of a huge swath of mountainous desert wilderness. At the center of this sweeping tale is Kit Carson, the trapper, scout, and soldier whose adventures made him a legend. Sides shows us how this illiterate mountain man understood and respected the Western tribes better than any other American, yet willingly followed orders that would ultimately devastate the Navajo nation. Rich in detail and spanning more than three decades, this is an essential addition to our understanding of how the West was really won.From Publishers WeeklyAlthough delivering little in the way of new information, Sides, an Outside magazine editor-at-large and bestselling author ( Ghost Soldiers ), eloquently paints the landscape and history of the 19th-century Southwest, combining Larry McMurtrys lyricism with the historians attachment to facts. Inevitably, Sidess main focus is the virtual decimation of the Navajo nation from the 1820s to the late 1860s. Sides depicts the complex role of whites in the subjugation of the Navajos through his portrait of Kit Carsonan illiterate trapper, soldier and scout who knew the Native Americans intimately, married two of them and, without blinking, participated in the Indians slaughter. Books about Carson have been numerous, but Sides is better than most Carson biographers in setting his exploits against a larger backdrop the unstoppable idea of manifest destiny. Of course, as counterpoint to the progress of Carson and other whites, Sides details the fierce but doomed defense mounted by the Navajos over long decades. This culminated in their final, desperate stand during 1863 at Canyon de Chelly, more than a decade after a contingent of federal troopsoperating under a commander whose last name of Washington seems ironic in this contextkilled their great leader, Narbona. (Oct. 3) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. From Bookmarks Magazine Hampton Sidess Blood and Thunder is more ambitious in its sweep than his acclaimed Ghost Wars (2001), a World War II history. His recounting of harsh frontier life and the violent clashes among the Navajo, the Spanish (Mexican), and the U.S. Army offers a gripping epic while enlivening many of the eras remarkable figures, from soldiers to trappers, farmers, Indians, and pioneer women. Critics especially praised Sidess nuanced discussions of the Navajo and other Native American tribes, as well as his inclusion of maps that chart key routes and conquests. A few critics cited some factual errors, tangential discussions, and omissions of some key historical figures, but overall its clear that Sides knows how to tell a good story ( Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ). 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.