Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War
Daniel J. Sharfstein
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War
Daniel J. Sharfstein
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
...[a] magnificent and tragic new history.
...the structure of Thunder in the Mountains is simple and direct, exploring the lives of each man toward their ultimate meeting, the heart-wrenching details of the conflict at the book’s center and the ways in which the war forever changed both men and drove them — and many of those closest to them — toward a sense of mutual understanding. While the book is a thorough and well-documented work of history, it delves into the human condition like the best fiction, offering insights not only into historical events but also into the ways people can grow and evolve.
The great achievement of Sharfstein's chronicle of the specific tragedy of the Nez Perce is to render this past both vivid and newly painful.
Sharfstein reinforces Joseph’s stature as a figure of courage, dignity, and moral rectitude. But he also shows Joseph in a more nuanced light as the leader strives to negotiate with the U.S. government while navigating the tricky waters of intratribal politics. What makes Sharftstein’s account unusual is the equal focus he places upon army officer Howard, who became both an admirer and nemesis of Joseph.
Law and history professor Daniel J. Sharfstein has crafted a solidly researched, well-written and engaging study of Chief Joseph and of Oliver Otis Howard, a one-armed brigadier general who tried to keep the Nez Perce separated from encroaching white settlers.
Sharfstein paints his pictures of this beautiful and terrifying region on a canvas that stretches from daunting inland mountains to bustling seacoast towns.
Mixed with exciting set pieces—battles, treaty negotiations, oratory over whose rightful land it was—and bolstered by impressive archival research, Sharfstein’s story unfolds as a swift-moving narrative of tragic inevitability. A superb, densely detailed complement to William Vollmann’s poetic/fictional treatment The Dying Grass (2015), of compelling interest to any student of 19th-century American history..
Sharfstein writes with great skill and due regard for the sad, human elements of the U.S. effort to hem in and defeat a defiant people whose great leader remains an example of moral courage and bearing. No other book better brings to the fore the qualities of Chief Joseph or better explores the dilemma of his pursuer, Gen. O.O. Howard.