Empire of the Summer Moon

Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches

De: S. C. Gwynne

Narrado por: David Drummond

In the tradition of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a stunningly vivid historical account of the 40-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West, centering on Quanah, the greatest Comanche chief of them all.

Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second is the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches.

Although listeners may be more familiar with the tribal names Apache and Sioux, it was in fact the legendary fighting ability of the Comanches that determined just how and when the American West opened up.

Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six; full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever rode. They were so masterful at war and so skillful with their arrows and lances that they stopped the northern drive of colonial Spain from Mexico and halted the French expansion westward from Louisiana.

White settlers arriving in Texas from the eastern United States were surprised to find the frontier being rolled backward by Comanches incensed by the invasion of their tribal lands.

Against this backdrop Gwynne presents the compelling drama of Cynthia Ann Parker, a nine-year-old girl who was kidnapped by Comanches in 1836. She grew to love her captors and became infamous as the "White Squaw" who refused to return until her tragic capture by Texas Rangers in 1860.

More famous still was her son Quanah, a warrior who was never defeated and whose guerrilla wars in the Texas Panhandle made him a legend.

S. C. Gwynne's account of these events is meticulously researched, intellectually provocative and, above all, thrillingly told.

©2010 S.C. Gwynne (P)2020 W F Howes

Fascinating.history of the North American tribes .

Absolutely fascinating piece of history I didn’t have any idea about . It’s well written and got me looking at maps of the USA to identify the different regions the various tribes came from.

Balanced Story of the Rise & Fall of the Comanches

This is a great book regarding the history of one of the most ruthless native American tribes. It is my belief, that the author is giving a fair and balanced view from both sides, the settler side and the native American side. He describes both sides' atrocities and their motivations in a way that you like and hate both sides equally, but such is history! There are no good guys and bad guys in history (for the most part, at least!) I would recommend this book for anyone looking to enrich their knowledge on the native American tribes (mainly the Comanches) and to get a fairer view of historical facts during that time period.