Property of Solon Pub Lib. Use to illustrate the ingrained nature of racism in American Society

From the preface: "the goal of this book is to weave all those threads into a single narrative....it is not intended to be a deep dive into any one subject." And from the Epilogue: "it was a time when a host of things overlapped that would never overlap again. When we look for incredible stories from the Old West...it's no coincidence that we continue to look to 1876." I wish Wimmer would have lead with the Epilogue piece (or convinced the publishers to put that on the jacket flap, instead of how the book will weave together the events & demonstrate the overlapping context of their stories). Because there really is very little weaving and overlapping. These are individual stories told throughout the book in a chronological manner. It's a fast read, and well-written, but a bunch of stories that show a single moment in time. A better example of how a single American summer affected us today and how the stories overlapped is Bill Bryson's [book:One Summer: America, 1927|17262366]. For a podcaster writing his first book, it's not bad, but I do think that I prefer professional historians. ( )

I had no idea the summer of 1876 was so full of history! This book was full of famous names from the past, some I had read about, but most of them I had at least heard of before.

Custer’s battle at Little Bighorn makes up the meat of the story. I learned quite a bit about Custer and the other soldiers who were part of the Indian wars. Sitting Bull, Red Cloud and Crazy Horse were just a few of the famous Native Americans that played a big part in the Indian battles.

While Custer is fighting with the Indians, there are many other things going on in America. Gold has been discovered, some of which is on land granted to the Native Americans. The cattle drives from Texas to Dodge City were getting popular in the west and Jess James and his gang of outlaws were out robbing banks and stagecoaches. In the midst of all this, Baseball was becoming popular.

I had previously read about Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, so I enjoyed their parts in the book. I liked the stories about Jesse James and the Youngers. The book covered so much I found interesting that I would love for the author to break this down and give readers a nonfiction book for each subject with even more detail. Oh, but it’s okay with me if the author skips the baseball part.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy. This was a perfect Memorial Day read and I loved it. I’m pleased to recommend this to other readers who love history. ( )

US-history, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, history-and-culture, us-army, outlaws, nonfiction, law-enforcement, criminal-acts*****

Who knew that these important episodes in US history happened all within one summer?
No whitewashing of the actions of that egomaniac George Custer who was responsible for the deaths of his own men as well as a camp full of noncombatants in their own land. Then he moves on to aspects and facts of the various outlaws and lawmen who captured the headlines of the time (especially the Northfield Raid!).
All is put together and presented in very readable format for those of us who geek history to learn more.
I requested and received an EARC from St. Martin's Press vis NetGalley. Thank you ( )