Custer’s Road to Disaster: George Armstrong Custer’s Path to Little Bighorn

In this laudatory history, true crime writer Sullivan (Vampire: The Richard Chase Murders) traces the short and parabolic life of George Armstrong Custer from his inauspicious start at West Point, where he finished last in his class, to his inglorious end at Little Bighorn, where he and over 250 of his men were killed by a force of Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians. While at the military academy, Custer demonstrated in nearly every way possible his lack of qualifications for leading men into battle—his academic marks were abysmal and he routinely racked up nearly enough demerits to warrant expulsion, yet his “boyish antics” made him popular with classmates. Nevertheless, the Union needed every officer it could wrangle for the impending Civil War. During the conflict, Custer seemed to reinvent himself—he married and proved to be a strong cavalry leader—but it was not for his successes that he would be remembered. After the war died down, another kind of civil war sprang up, this time in the West against the Indians. Sullivan’s roadmap of Custer’s life and demise is succinct and serviceable, but it’s a well-worn path and the scenery will be familiar to anyone who’s walked it before. Photos and map. (June)