Light a Distant Fire

By: Lucia St. Clair Robson

Narrated by: Gene Engene

Length: 20 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Threatened with forced removal from their Florida homeland, the Seminole and Miccosukee Indians took up arms. Using alligator-infested swamps to their advantage, they fought the US Army to a standstill. Unable to win militarily, General Thomas Jesup captured his enemies under flags of truce. With most of their people transported west, fewer than a hundred remained hidden in the heart of the Everglades, members of the only tribe never to surrender.

©2011 Books in Motion (P)2011 Books in Motion

Florida, swamps, wars, and freedom

Light a Distant Fire (Paperback and Audible copies)
by Lucia St. Clair Robson
Cracking the cover of the book, my edition signed With affection from the wild and scaly swamps. The Reader will learn a little about the history of Florida, the strength of its original people, and the remarkable struggle for humanity. Lucia Robson has a way of drawing in her readers. I started this book in its original paperback but when the Audible version came out I had a pleasant time loosing my self in the story that is both historical and fiction. Osceola is a historical warrior from the Seminole nation, that begins the story in his youth. The battles begun with "Old Mad" Jackson lasted over 40 years. Osceola was there for most of it historically. He fought against odds that would make any modern man cringe and happily fight modern wars than the bug infested swamps of Florida. Robson has a way of gaining the readers trust in her story, showing the side of the loser as much as the difficulties of those who fought the war in the first place. Today's children would be amazed at the personal struggles that the escaped African slaves and the Seminole people faced so early in the union. To save their own way of life, their families freedom, and the lives of their friends they faced odds that would terrify most modern man. Not only the brutality of war, but of how white men treated Seminole and African slaves as property and an encumbrance. Lucia Robson brings the story not only to the forefront, but the humanity behind the story that is always forgotten in the history books.

Understanding the nobility of indigenous people. p

Osceola and his family and tribe can never be forgotten after reading this book. It is important to know and understand the oppression that we of European descent have done to them in our greed and aggression. This is a perfect book for you if you want to understand the complex Seminole Wars.

OUTSTANDING STORY OF A COURAGEOUS AMERICAN NATIVE

I really enjoyed the interpretation of Osceola's life, his family and their struggle to be free.

Returned

I love the Native American cultures and the knowledge, research & adventures written by this author. However, I do not care for her style of writing. She usually has multiple characters in different lives and in one sentence will jump ahead months or years and the reader is left scratching their head wondering what happened to the drama unfolding at the previous time zone. She might write about rituals, story telling, chants, songs, etc. for pages before you realize it is seven years later and there were a whole lot of good stories to be told in between times. Characters appeared and disappeared without a clue as to where or why.
I enjoyed "Ride The Wind" immensely and I did, in fact, read (listen) to "Ghost Warrior" to the end, even though it was one of the books which I described above.