The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History

This audiobook blew me away. Would recommend to anyone. The author's narration is perfect - almost an extension of the old oral tradition. I can't imagine reading this as a text. This is profound, moving and troubling. As a UK reader/listener, the legend of Crazy Horse is perhaps not so familiar, but this deserves to make it so. I will try some of the authors other audiobooks too, on the strength of this.

Feels just like your there in a spirt sweat room hearing the stories from your native american grandfather. Amazing from start to finish...recommended fully

Listening to Joseph Marshall telling this storey is like being round the camp fire while an elder recounts the history of his people. He is the perfect narrator for his excellent book, and has the ability to involve the listener in this tragic and moving storey. The listener not only learns more about these amazing people, but can feel part of it. This audio book is an experience, and I can recommend it.

This book tells us more of the man than the warrior of legend and as such is
a wonderful insight into the real story of Crazy Horse as told by an
ancestor of the Lakota tribe itself. Unlike history or biographical books
written by other authors, this work is put together based on the oral
traditions passed down through the generations. So, this book is an
unashamedly Lakota centric telling of the story of perhaps their greatest
leader. Thus, we gain a better and perhaps more honest appreciation of the
man himself rather than the Crazy Horse of myth or legend.

The book is read by the author which is fitting as his distinctive Native
American voice gives real substance to this work. However, as the author is not a professional narrator I did notice that he did not quite deliver a fluid reading of his book at times and there were a few words that I was confused over but realized had misheard due to his pronunciation. For example, I eventually figured out that what I thought was the word "goal" was actually "gold". That minor issue aside, his voice was perfect for the subject matter.

The book starts us off with a basic understanding of the various sub groupings of the Lakota tribe as well as the way in which the Lakota calendar works. This is a valuable primer but I did find that referring to the months of the year for the most part using the old Lakota names did become confusing for the non Lakota reader. It is a nice touch to make use of the old terms when recounting the various times of the year and I do understand why the author did this but it might have been useful to annotate each mention of the Lakota term with the equivalent Julian term.

The book covers the entire span of Crazy Horse's life and all the key events therein and so achieves what the author set out to do. However, one difficulty I had with the structure of the book was the seemingly confusing chronology of events at times. For clarity, it would have been helpful to mention the year more often to give the reader a better sense of the timeline unfolding. In addition, I noticed that a degree of repetition was present with two key battles being talked about twice and the second telling being done so as if the first had not. The battle of the "Hundred in the Hands" as the Lakota called it or the Fetterman Massacre was discussed twice and with differing amounts of details which made the chronology of the book appear a little haphazard. I was also a somewhat confused at the apparent back and forth describing the approach to Fort Robinson. One paragraph it seemed they had arrived and the next they were on their way. There were one or two other more minor repetitions too which all in all led me to think that perhaps the author got a bit lost himself in the layout of the book.

Having said the above, the book still gave the reader what we needed to learn more about this Lakota leader. It also serves to illustrate just who were really the "savages" in the way the Indian peoples were treated by the white invader. It seems that despite all the societal and technological advances of the white man that sheer greed, ignorance and the belief that all others than themselves were inferior and therefore worthless, it was the American tribes that were the people who showed great wisdom and thoughtfulness which is still a profound lesson for us all today.

For those perhaps new to this subject matter, I would recommend that you first read the excellent "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West" by Dee Brown and available here on Audible as a great primer to the wider events of the time.

A worthwhile read if a little meandering at times.

I listened intently start to finish, absolutely captivating listening. Narrator is mesmerizing and soothing.
Story is heartbreaking and insight in to Lakota life is thought provoking, inspiring me to read more about these people who lived in complete harmony with nature and infuriatingly called savages.
Genocide is what it was.