A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year In August 1862; after suffering decades of hardship; broken treaties; and relentless encroachment on their land; the Dakota leader Little Crow reluctantly agreed that his people must go to war. After six weeks of fighting; the uprising was smashed; thousands of Indians were taken prisoner by the US army; and 303 Dakotas were sentenced to death. President Lincoln; embroiled in the most devastating period of the Civil War; personally intervened to save the lives of 265 of the condemned men; but in the end; 38 Dakota men would be hanged in the largest government-sanctioned execution in U.S. history. Writing with uncommon immediacy and insight; Scott W. Berg details these events within the larger context of the Civil War; the history of the Dakota people and the subsequent United States–Indian wars; and brings to life this overlooked but seminal moment in American history.
#110763 in Books Anchor Books 2016-03-22 2016-03-22Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x 1.50 x 5.10l; 1.59 #File Name: 0307278719784 pagesAnchor Books
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. This may be the single best description; from beginning to endBy hudunit333This is a horrific tale so make sure you're prepared. Since there is very little physical documentary evidence left from the camp the story has to be told by patching together memories and small bits of information from many sources. As a consequence the book seems quite choppy at first. By midpoint you start to see the big picture and the characters (prisoners and guards) start to develop.Obviously a lot of research and effort went into it. This may be the single best description; from beginning to end; of a single concentration camp that has ever been written. What is also interesting is that it was a women's camp. I highly recommend this book either for knowledge about the Third Reich or even Women's Studies. You won't soon forget this one.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Informative and intense. A must read for schools.By Ginger MillerHelm does an amazing job researching and interviewing these incredibly brave and courageous women and those behind the intense inhumanity they suffered. I knew of the camp and much of the history but not the personal stories behind them. She did not overwhelm readers with mind numbing statistics as Martin Gilbert's Holocaust did time and again. I regret the picture painted of the French Resistors shipped from Birkenau; with only a couple of exceptions. Perhaps Helm should have read "Auschwitz and After" by Charlotte Delbo. Not one mention of the woman who refused to allow the world to forget the horror of Auschwitz. A book so descriptive and done so beautifully with words that leave no room for misinterpretation. She also speaks of near misses of death in Ravensbruck after her transfer there in 1944. I deeply regret Delbo was completely left out of this book. In ending many scholars of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany do indeed refer to Ravensbruck as an extermination camp and in my opinion justly so. Congratulations to Sarah Helm. With one noted exception she did a wonderful job and wrote an incredible book. Charlotte Delbo deserved better.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Outstanding read - Should be in history classesBy GeorgieThis book was an outstanding read and very insightful into the Nazi mindset as well as a microcosm of what a world can become under certain conditions. Whether it's the concept of "group think" under Nazi influence or "group think" under the survivors' needs; the psychological horror is gathered masterfully.Helm takes us into the all women's camp at Ravenbruck; designed by Himmler who was Hitler's main man in determining exactly what to do about all these people.....he wanted gone. The atrocities; courage; belief in the human spirit and the absolute will to survive deter Himmler's initiatives. Though initially a slave labor camp; it later became part of the overall extermination project as the war closed in around the Nazi's.Some readers become confused as the story does bounce a bit back to when each ethnic group was brought in but by the accounts of the Nazi's by 1944; there were 22 ethnic groups in the camps. What the average reader doesn't understand is how the cultural differences and interplay are absolutely necessary to the explanation of how this camp operated. Too many people out here complain of a disjointed story but they don't understand they each new emerging or engaged group impacted the camp as a whole.I absolutely recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand Nazi history. Yes; there were Jewish people who were murdered but this book goes further to show just how many people were murdered and not all Jewish. Eye opening; horrific; disgusting; heartbreaking and soul surviving; this book delivers!
