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Article: Touched by Fire: The Life, Death, and Mythic Afterlife of George Armstrong Custer.(Book review)
- Article from:
- The Historian
- Article date:
- September 22, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Touched by Fire: The Life, Death, and Mythic Afterlife of George Armstrong Custer. By Louise Barnett. (Lincoln, Neb.: Bison Books, 2006. Pp. xi, 540. $17.95.)
This volume is a reprint of the original 1996 edition. The only modification is the addition of a preface. Organized in five parts (Glory, Transition, Recovery, 1876, and Endless Devotion), Touched by Fire is a sweeping look at not only Custer, but also his wife, characters in their lives, and the times that produced them. The author argues that Elizabeth (Libbie, to George) had the major role in crafting the "Custer-as-hero" myth. This view is nor new, bur using Libbie's personal correspondence (among ...