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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | | | | In the summer of 1846, the Army of the West marched through Santa Fe, en route to invade and occupy the Western territories claimed by Mexico. Fueled by the new ideology of “Manifest Destiny,” this land grab would lead to a decades-long battle between the United States and the Navajos, the fiercely resistant rulers of a huge swath of mountainous desert wilderness.
In Blood and Thunder, Hampton Sides gives us a magnificent history of the American conquest of the West. At the center of this sweeping tale is Kit Carson, the trapper, scout, and soldier whose adventures made him a legend. Sides shows us how this illiterate mountain man understood and respected the Western tribes better than any other American, yet willingly followed orders that would ultimately devastate the Navajo nation. Rich in detail and spanning more than three decades, this is an essential addition to our understanding of how the West was really won. | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Hampton Sides | | Paperback: | 624 pages | | Publisher: | Anchor | | Publication Date: | October 09, 2007 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 1400031109 | | Package Length: | 7.9 inches | | Package Width: | 5.2 inches | | Package Height: | 1.2 inches | | Package Weight: | 1.3 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 161 reviews |
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 An Educational Thrill Ride !!! Jun 07, 2010
I bought this book to learn a little about the life of Kit Carson. I never dreamed it would be such a fascinating learning experience about how the west was tamed, the topography was mapped with the leadership of John Fremont and also how the United States gained control of California and Mexico.
This is a gripping and quite frank telling of some amazing history. If they had taught me this in school I likely would have earned better grades. I highly recommend this book to any history buff even if the western frontier isn't your strongest area of interest. This book is captivating.
John in PA
 The REAL Wild West May 23, 2010
For years, I was so enamored of anything about American Indians that if it wasn't Indian, I wasn't interested in it. Yet somehow, I missed the story of the Navajos. I guess I focused more on the Plains tribes than what I thought of as Pueblo Indians. But having listened to Sides' book, I now know the Navajos were anything but placid Pueblo Indians. Instead, they were definitely a force to be reckoned with, and it seems Kit Carson was just the man for the job. Again, I was familiar with Carson's name but didn't really know how and where he fit into that era when the Indians were slowly but deliberately being pushed aside to make way for settlers from the eastern United States. The story is very well written, which doesn't surprise me a bit---I loved Sides' _Ghost Soldiers_---altho' at times Don Leslie's voice became very irritating to me and his mispronunciation of some words really erked my English teacher's ear. But all in all, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what _really_ happened in the Wild, Wild West.
Great historical read especially for the US Southwest, pre 1850's Apr 16, 2010
Learn about the US Southwest from a pre 1850's perspective. This book provides a detailed background on the life and travels in the early 1800's and Kit Carson's leadership to open up frontier routes through the west and southwest US. The author provides a good image of living in Taos, Santa Fe, California, and other areas under Mexican rule and through to the Mexican American War as well as all of the US military missions throughout Kit Carson's life.
0 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 A Mormon's View Mar 28, 2010
A month ago I read Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West. The author is Hampton Sides. It is 624 pages and was published in 2007.
This book went into a lot of detail about Kit Carson and his life. He seemed to be in many places that changed history in the West.
My view from this book was that Carson was great, but he also had his faults. He was great at taking orders, such as from Gen. James Henry Carleton, where his scorched earth policy against the Navajo Indians culminated in their surrender and the infamous Long Walk to a uninhabitable reservation in eastern New Mexico. During the years that they were there, thousands of Navajo's died of starvation and disease.
I didn't like the way the author treated the story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. No, these newly converted Mormons, who themselves were survivors of an extermination order in the US., did not represent the teachings of the Mormon church. (Mormon is a nickname for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, AKA LDS). No, the Leadership of the Mormon church did not call for this and did not condone it. Brigham Young, the leader of the Church at that time, actually insisted that the governor of Utah organize an investigation. I found that the knee-jerk reaction of Carleton, his peers, and the author, was that if one Indian screwed up, or one Mormon screwed up, it was acceptable to lay the blame on the whole tribe.
Blood and Thunder - Kit Carson Mar 02, 2010
Good read in a time in US history that hasn't been covered in "realistic depth" as much as the events happening in that time period or immediately following.
The book touches on the Civil War and the US / Native American conflicts and helps bridge the gap in timeline and especially in what was happening in the Southwest. While the Southwest was obviously a part of the Civil War, it has for the most part been treated in a secondary fashion.
While many of us have read the fictionalized accounts of early pioneers such as Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett and Kit Carson, this book provided a more factual perspective, which still proves fascinating.
Overall a good read.
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