“A highly readable and objective account” of the life, character, and actions of the famed US Army general (The New York Times Book Review).
In this illuminating biography, critically acclaimed historian Jeffry Wert offers readers a controversial new perspective on the life of the legendary warrior, General George Armstrong Custer. Although best remembered for his defeat in the Battle of Little Big Horn, Custer was much more than the brutal Indian fighter he became in his later years. Drawing on recently discovered materials, Wert shows us the man behind the myth: a Civil War hero, doting husband, and career soldier whose frustration with his role during the Indian wars led him to professional disgrace and personal ruin.
Praise for Custer
“Wert has done full justice to Custer’s service in the Civil War, to his astonishing career and the complexities of his character and personality.” —The Washington Times
“Wert’s full evenhanded treatment is a welcome addition to the growing library on a fascinating man who is still being discovered 120 years after his death.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer
“A balanced perspective that has given us an historical Custer instead of a mythical Custer.” —The New Republic
Jeffry D. Wert is the author of eight previous books on Civil War topics, most recently Cavalryman of the Lost Cause and The Sword of Lincoln. His articles and essays on the Civil War have appeared in many publications, including Civil War Times Illustrated, American History Illustrated, and Blue and Gray. A former history teacher at Penns Valley High School, he lives in Centre Hall, Pennsylvania, slightly more than one hour from the battlefield at Gettysburg.