Empire of the Summer Moon

"In the tradition of IBury My Heart at Wounded Knee,/I this is a stunningly
vivid historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and
white settlers for control of the American West, centering on Quanah, the
greatest Comanche chief of them all.
IEmpire of the Summer Moon/I 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 readers 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 skilful 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 Ibackward/I 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."