Fascinating story from a soldier who lived it
by Britton Davis
Review by Brian Wright

This summer (2010) I was pleasantly amazed by the 1993 movie Geronimo, starring a young Matt Damon (as the author of this book: Britton Davis), Gene Hackman, Jason Patric, Robert Duvall, and Wes Studi. I love that film; my mom said she remembered seeing it closer to when it came out, and that it gave an authentic portrayal of the Indian conflicts. Well if the movie gives a fair idea of the interplay of Indian and White cultures in late 19th century America, the book provides a stunning achievement in that area. Growing up as I did in the decade of the 1950s to John Wayne movies and plenty of Westerns—where an Indian was a Hollywood actor with dark makeup—I fashioned some of my childhood heroes from the (white) actors. Continue reading →