The Earth is Weeping

[montrose]

I am in a hotel near a VA hospital for a week, complications etc. I am reading Peter Cozzens book The Earth is Weeping which is about all Indian Wars after ACW.I will have some good things to say about this book. But it is written as an Indian Wars for Dummies.

A pet peeve of mine is an author discussing a disputed issue, or claiming a fact that isn't a fact.

I am finding dozens and dozens of errors. I am also finding that the footnote do not support the text. In my experience, this is a sign of plagiarism. Look at anything Ambrose or Philbrick has written. Don't get sidetracked on plagiarism. Do pay attention that his work is overwhelmingly secondary and tertiary sources, where the author has little or no understanding to allow him to make the many , many allegations he makes.

As an overarching overview of this era, it is entertaining. Cozzens is an entertainer, who likes good stories and anecdotes, even when the sources he cites proves he is picking fantasy over facts, truth, and accuracy. For the knowledge members of this board have, this book is a History Channel production.

I just counted 18 errors in 5 pages. Sigh, I need to find a bookstore before I hit the hospital tomorrow. I am in the building that doesn't have wifi, of course.

LBH is such a weird battle, where so much of the books and discussions involves false facts, things known to be wrong for decades. There is a massive following of folks trying to disprove, ignore, or make irrelevant the 1980s post fire archeology facts. I get trying very thin hypothesis to save a pet theory. I do not get efforts to suppress, libel, slander facts and those who produced them.

I have a lot of time on my hands next few days. Open to any discussion.

[edavids]

Get well soon Will. That is ALL that matters.

Best,

David

[dave]

Will hurry up and get out and be healthy soon.
God Bless Ya
Regards
Dave

[tubman13]

Montrose, obviously get your own house in order(health). Thank you for the numerical/percentages you supplied me with elsewhere. Hope you endure the lack of wifi.

Regards,
Tom

[crzhrs]

Montrose: I responded to Diane's orginal thread about the book and picked it up. Below is my opinion from Jan. 20, 2017:

I just picked up this book. It's quite large and in the style of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee which Cozzens said was one sided (of course it was but the Indians' needed their side told).

Anyway if you are knowledgeable about the Indian Wars there's really nothing new here, lots of the same photographs, accounts, battles, etc. It's a good read for first-timers, however.

I've jumped around a bit as I usually do on a new book to check out parts that interest me more but will read the entire book front-to-cover.

The chapter on the LBH does bother me with Cozzen's innuendos about Reno's intoxication, using Muggin Taylor's accounts (anti-Reno) and using Martini's later statements about personally getting verbal orders from Custer to get Benteen, rather than Martini's RCOI testimony, plus several other "iffy" statements and conclusions.

Still going over it . . . we'll see what else sticks out.

_______

I finished the book after my original post and my opinion hasn't changed. It's really a "beginner book" but has numerous errors, uses questionable accounts, the author throws in his own opinions rather than letting the reader decide. Overall, it was OK but it's not something a knowledgeable person on the Indian Wars would find revealing or in fact would recommend.

[noggy]

Got this book some months ago, and the last half or one third I just blazed through due to an obsession about always finishing books I start reading. It gave a very "BMHAWK 2"-feel, and is therefore a couple of decades too late. Not impressed.

And; I hope you are feeling better, montrose. The writings and knowledge of you, fred, quincannon and a couple other are among the reasons I joined this Board.

[montrose]

I think we are seeing the Stephen Ambrose effect on history. Tell a good story, do not let facts get in the way.

In this book everyone is a hero or a zero, saint or devil. There is no middle ground. The focus is on telling a dramatic story. The problem is that historical fiction should be labelled as such, it should not be called history.

Every single person described in this book is a caricature greatly twisted and exaggerated. Extreme events, are also exaggerated to add drama to vignettes and campaigns. It goes without saying that many of these extreme examples are not only false, but have been proven false for decades or centuries.

I picture Cozzens as Kathy Bates in the movie Water Boy. Crook is the devil, Reno is the devil, etc, etc for 400 pages.

When I was growing up, I remember there were cartoon comic books of great works of history. Imagine Hugo, Tolstoy and Shakespear in a 24 page comic book. This book is a modern attempt to make a comic book out of military history.

[dave]

montrose
Good post and review but the big question is how are you doing? Having more leakers? Take care of yourself and get well.
Regards
Dave