The positive for this book was that I did learn a lot about General Custer and the battles that led to his demise. I also learned about the James-Younger Gang’s last robbery that definitely did not go as planned. The author did state in the beginning that this was not meant to be an in depth, definitive scholarly account of the events of the summer of 1876. The negative for this book was that SO much time was spent the events of 10 years prior to Custer’s Last Stand to introduce us to the main players, so much time devoted to the battles and then a large chunk of time to the James Gang and the following 2 week manhunt. Baseball and politics were thrown in at the end of chapters like palate cleansers between bloodshed. Mark Twain was literally only mentioned in the epilogue. I really wanted this book to be like Bill Bryson’s One Summer: America, 1927 - where more equal time was given to how events happened and connected to a bigger picture.