Peter Cozzens

Si hay un fenómeno de la historia de los Estados Unidos que se ha explotado hasta la saciedad en la cultura popular occidental, este ha sido la conquista del Oeste y el conflicto con las tribus de nativos que lo habitaban, denominado como las Guerras Indias. De una demonizacion del indio o nativo norteamericano, el pendulo basculo a partir de la decada de 1970 a su santificacion, y a menudo se echan en falta visiones mas ecuanimes, capaces de superar ese maniqueismo de buenos y malos. Y eso es algo que Peter Cozzens consigue con La tierra llora. La amarga historia de las Guerras Indias por la conquista del Oeste, una narracion apasionante merecedora del prestigioso Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History y que ha sido elogiado por Booklist como un maravilloso trabajo de comprension y compasion. Comprension, porque Peter Cozzens realiza un enorme esfuerzo en el analisis de las motivaciones que latian detras del proceso de expansion hacia el Oeste del que nacerian los modernos Estados Unidos, pero tambien se pone en la piel de unos indios atrapados entre una mentalidad y modo de vida ancestrales y la modernidad. Pero compasion tambien, hacia hombres como Caballo Loco, Toro Sentado, Geronimo y Nube Roja, que las mas de las veces pelearon forzados, defendiendo a sus mujeres y niños, en un combate que sabian perdido de antemano. Empero, no hay sensibleria: no se hurtan ni las mezquindades ni el racismo latente en buena parte de la administracion estadounidense, ni las continuas querellas intestinas y barbarie de apaches, sioux o comanches. La tierra llora. La amarga historia de las Guerras Indias por la conquista del Oeste se devora pagina a pagina, tan rapidamente como veloz avanzo el tendido del ferrocarril por las llanuras del Oeste norteamericano, a lo largo de tres decadas que vieron la extincion de comunidades enteras, en una historia tragica del fin de un mundo pero que hace justicia a vencedores y vencidos. 2017, Ganador del Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History.

Deadwood fue descrita en su día como «la ciudad más diabólica sobre la faz de la tierra», un ombligo de pecado que emergió a comienzos de 1876 en las Black Hills (Dakota del Sur), excrecencia de la f

Si hay un fenómeno de la historia de los Estados Unidos que se ha explotado hasta la saciedad en la cultura popular occidental, este ha sido la conquista del Oeste y el conflicto con las tribus de nativos que lo habitaban, denominado como las Guerras Indias. De una demonizacion del indio o nativo norteamericano, el pendulo basculo a partir de la decada de 1970 a su santificacion, y a menudo se echan en falta visiones mas ecuanimes, capaces de superar ese maniqueismo de buenos y malos. Y eso es algo que Peter Cozzens consigue con La tierra llora. La amarga historia de las Guerras Indias por la conquista del Oeste, una narracion apasionante merecedora del prestigioso Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History y que ha sido elogiado por Booklist como "un maravilloso trabajo de comprension y compasion".Comprension, porque Peter Cozzens realiza un enorme esfuerzo en el analisis de las motivaciones que latian detras del proceso de expansion hacia el Oeste del que nacerian los modernos Estados Unidos, pero tambien se pone en la piel de unos indios atrapados entre una mentalidad y modo de vida ancestrales y la modernidad. Pero compasion tambien, hacia hombres como Caballo Loco, Toro Sentado, Geronimo y Nube Roja, que las mas de las veces pelearon forzados, defendiendo a sus mujeres y niños, en un combate que sabian perdido de antemano. Empero, no hay sensibleria: no se hurtan ni las mezquindades ni el racismo latente en buena parte de la administracion estadounidense, ni las continuas querellas intestinas y barbarie de apaches, sioux o comanches.La tierra llora. La amarga historia de las Guerras Indias por la conquista del Oestese devora pagina a pagina, tan rapidamente como veloz avanzo el tendido del ferrocarril por las llanuras del Oeste norteamericano, a lo largo de tres decadas que vieron la extincion de comunidades enteras, en una historia tragica del fin de un mundo pero que hace justicia a vencedores y vencidos.

La extraordinaria historia de dos hermanos de la tribu shawnee, Tecumseh y Tenskwatawa, artífices de la mayor confederación india de la historia de los Estados Unidos, capaz de poner en jaque a la recien nacida republica. Con los colonos desbordando los Apalaches, en un frenesi por explotar las tierras ganadas a los britanicos que obviaba cualquier tratado y cualquier derecho de sus moradores indios, Tecumseh y su hermano trataron de galvanizar a estos para resistir. Mientras que el primero fue un brillante diplomatico y un bravo lider guerrero, admirado por sus oponentes, Tenskwatawa, el Profeta, pergeño el renacimiento espiritual y moral de su gente, a traves de una doctrina religiosa que trataba de unir a las desorganizadas tribus del noreste americano y revitalizar su cultura. Cozzens auna su profunda investigacion de la sociedad y costumbres indigenas con una prosa subyugante, para abrir una ventana a un mundo borrado de los libros de historia, pero que vuelve a vibrar en estas paginas. Un turbulento mundo de frontera, de tramperos y emboscadas en la espesura, de mosquetes, tomahawks y captura de cabelleras, donde colisionaron la naciente modernidad de una nacion que echaba los dientes con unos indios decididos a mantener su independencia y su forma de vida.

Deadwood fue descrita en su día como «la ciudad más diabólica sobre la faz de la tierra», un ombligo de pecado que emergió a comienzos de 1876 en las Black Hills (Dakota del Sur), excrecencia de la f

A History Book of the Year in The Times Cozzens is a master storyteller; his books weave a wealth of intricate detail into gripping historical narrative.The TimesMarvellous... One of the best pieces of Native American history I have read. S.C. Gwynne, bestselling author of Empire of the Summer Moon Winner of the Western Writers of America Spur Award for Best Biography. Shawnee chief Tecumseh was a man destined for greatness - the son of a prominent war leader, he was supposedly born under a lucky shooting star. Charismatic, intelligent, handsome, he was both a fierce warrior and a savvy politician. In the first biography of Tecumseh in more than twenty years, Peter Cozzens thoroughly revises our understanding of this great leader and his movement, arguing that his overlooked younger brother Tenskwatawa, the Shawnee Prophet, was a crucial partner in Tecumsehs success.Until Tecumsehs death in 1813, he was, alongside Tenskwatawa, the co-architect of the greatest pan-Indian confederation in history. Over time, Tenskwatawa has been relegated to the shadows, described as a talentless charlatan and a drunk. But Cozzens argues that while Tecumseh was the forward-facing diplomat, appealing even to the white settlers attempting to steal Shawnee land, behind the scenes, Tenskwatawa unified multiple tribes with his deep understanding of Shawnee religion and culture. No other Native American leaders enjoyed such popularity, and none would ever pose a graver threat to colonial expansion than Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa. Bringing to life an often-overlooked episode in Americas past, Cozzens paints in vivid detail the violent, lawless world of the Old Northwest, when settlers spilled over the Appalachians to bloody effect in their haste to exploit lands won from the War of Independence. The Warrior and the Prophet tells the untold story of the Shawnee brothers who retaliated against this threat - becoming allies with the British army in the process - and reveals how they were the last hope for Native Americans to preserve ways of life they had known for centuries.

Sunday Times Best History Books of 2017Winner of the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History Winner of the 2017 Caroline Bancroft History Prize Shortlisted for the Military History Magazine Book of the Year Award NOMINATED FOR THE 2017 PEN HESSELL-TILTMANExtraordinary... Cozzens has stripped the myth from these stories, but he is such a superb writer that what remains is exquisiteThe TimesIn a sweeping narrative, Peter Cozzens tells the gripping story of the wars that destroyed native ways of life as the American nation continued its expansion onto tribal lands after the Civil War, setting off a conflict that would last nearly three decades.By using original research and first-hand sources from both sides, Cozzens illuminates the encroachment experienced by the tribes and the tribal conflicts over whether to fight or make peace, and explores the squalid lives of soldiers posted to the frontier and the ethical quandaries faced by generals who often sympathized with their native enemies. Bringing together a cast of fascinating characters, including Custer, Sherman, Grant and a host of other military and political figures, as well as great native leaders such as Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Geronimo and Red Cloud, The Earth is Weeping is the fullest account to date of how the West was won... and lost.

Cozzens is a master storytellerThe TimesExtremely well researchedTimes Literary SupplementFrom the devastating invasion by Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century to the relentless pressure from white settlers 150 years later, A Brutal Reckoning tells the story of encroachment on the vast Native American territory in the Deep South, which gave rise to the Creek War, the bloodiest in American Indian history, and propelled Andrew Jackson into national prominence, as he led the US Army in a ruthless campaign.It was a war that involved not only white Americans and Native Americans but also the British and the Spanish, and ultimately led to the Trail of Tears, in which the government forcibly removed the entire Creek people, as well as the neighbouring Chickasaw, Choctaw and Cherokee nations, from their homelands, leaving the way open for the conquest of the West. No other single Indian conflict had such a significant impact on the fate of the country.Wonderfully told and brilliantly detailed, A Brutal Reckoning is a sweeping history of a crucial period in the destruction of Americas native tribes.

What Peter Cozzens has done with this remarkable book is to show us that the truth about Deadwood is, in fact, even more interesting than the myth. S. C. Gwynne, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of the Summer MoonInfamous for its stage-coach robbing, whiskey-guzzling and rampant prostitution, the gold rush settlement of Deadwood, South Dakota, was once described as the most diabolical town on Earth. Built in 1876 on land brazenly stolen from the Lakota people, it was an outlaw enterprise not subject to US laws or governance.In Deadwood, award-winning historian Peter Cozzens sifts through myth and legend to recount the towns meteoric rise - a place where the currency was gold dust - and its stunning fall. He reveals how Deadwoods foundation bred a self-reliance and a spirit of cooperation unique on the frontier, making it an exceptionally welcoming place at a time of deep-seated discrimination. Along the way, Cozzens pulls back the curtain on legendary figures Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, and introduces us to colourful Deadwoodites: from Jack Langrishe to Judge Kuykendall, and Seth Bullock to Sol Star.This is the first book to tell Deadwoods extraordinary story in full, revealing the true tale of how one frontier town, in only three years, imprinted itself on our imaginations as the best and worst of the West.

Bringing together Custer, Sherman, Grant, and other fascinating military and political figures, as well as great native leaders such as Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and Geronimo, this sweeping work of narrative history (San Francisco Chronicle) is the fullest account to date of how the West was wonand lost.After the Civil War the Indian Wars would last more than three decades, permanently altering the physical and political landscape of America. Peter Cozzens gives us both sides in comprehensive and singularly intimate detail. He illuminates the intertribal strife over whether to fight or make peace; explores the dreary, squalid lives of frontier soldiers and the imperatives of the Indian warrior culture; and describes the ethical quandaries faced by generals who often sympathized with their native enemies. In dramatically relating bloody and tragic events as varied as Wounded Knee, the Nez Perce War, the Sierra Madre campaign, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn, we encounter a pageant of fascinating characters, including Custer, Sherman, Grant, and a host of officers, soldiers, and Indian agents, as well as great native leaders such as Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Geronimo, and Red Cloud and the warriors they led.The Earth Is Weeping is a sweeping, definitive history of the battles and negotiations that destroyed the Indian way of life even as they paved the way for the emergence of the United States we know today.

"An insightful, unflinching portrayal of the remarkable siblings who came closer to altering the course of American history than any other Indian leaders." H.W. Brands, author of The Zealot and the EmancipatorThe first biography of the great Shawnee leader to make clear that his misunderstood younger brother, Tenskwatawa, was an equal partner in the last great pan-Indian alliance against the United States. Until the Americans killed Tecumseh in 1813, he and his brother Tenskwatawa were the co-architects of the broadest pan-Indian confederation in United States history. In previous accounts of Tecumsehs life, Tenskwatawa has been dismissed as a talentless charlatan and a drunk. But award-winning historian Peter Cozzens now shows us that while Tecumseh was a brilliant diplomat and war leader--admired by the same white Americans he opposed--it was Tenskwatawa, called the "Shawnee Prophet," who created a vital doctrine of religious and cultural revitalization that unified the disparate tribes of the Old Northwest. Detailed research of Native American society and customs provides a window into a world often erased from history books and reveals how both men came to power in different but no less important ways.Cozzens brings us to the forefront of the chaos and violence that characterized the young American Republic, when settlers spilled across the Appalachians to bloody effect in their haste to exploit lands won from the British in the War of Independence, disregarding their rightful Indian owners. Tecumseh and the Prophet presents the untold story of the Shawnee brothers who retaliated against this threat--the two most significant siblings in Native American history, who, Cozzens helps us understand, should be writ large in the annals of America.

De Peter Cozzens, autor del exitoso La tierra llora. La amarga historia de las Guerras Indias por la conquista del Oeste, llega la extraordinaria historia de dos hermanos de la tribu shawnee, Tecumseh y Tenskwatawa, artifices de la mayor confederacion india de la historia de los Estados Unidos, capaz de poner en jaque a la recien nacida republica. Con los colonos desbordando los Apalaches, en un frenesi por explotar las tierras ganadas a los britanicos que obviaba cualquier tratado y cualquier derecho de sus moradores indios, Tecumseh y su hermano trataron de galvanizar a estos para resistir. Mientras que el primero fue un brillante diplomatico y un bravo lider guerrero, admirado por sus oponentes, Tenskwatawa, el Profeta, pergeño el renacimiento espiritual y moral de su gente, a traves de una doctrina religiosa que trataba de unir a las desorganizadas tribus del noroeste americano y revitalizar su cultura. Cozzens auna su profunda investigacion de la sociedad y costumbres indigenas con una prosa subyugante, para abrir una ventana a un mundo borrado de los libros de historia, pero que vuelve a vibrar en estas paginas. Un turbulento mundo de frontera, de tramperos y emboscadas en la espesura, de mosquetes, tomahawk y captura de cabelleras, donde colisionaron la naciente modernidad de una nacion que echaba los dientes con unos indios decididos a mantener su independencia y su forma de vida.

The story of the pivotal struggle between the Creek Indians and an insatiable, young United States for control over the Deep Southfrom the acclaimed historian and prize-winning author of The Earth is WeepingThe Creek War is one of the most tragic episodes in American history, leading to the greatest loss of Native American life on what is now U.S. soil. What began as a vicious internal conflict among the Creek Indians metastasized like a cancer. The ensuing Creek War of 1813-1814 shattered Native American control of the Deep South and led to the infamous Trail of Tears, in which the government forcibly removed the southeastern Indians from their homeland. The war also gave Andrew Jackson his first combat leadership role, and his newfound popularity after defeating the Creeks would set him on the path to the White House.In A Brutal Reckoning, Peter Cozzens vividly captures the young Jackson, describing a brilliant but harsh military commander with unbridled ambition, a taste for cruelty, and a fraught sense of honor and duty. Jackson would not have won the war without the help of Native American allies, yet he denied their role and even insisted on their displacement, together with all the Indians of the American South in the Trail of Tears.A conflict involving not only white Americans and Native Americans, but also the British and the Spanish, the Creek War opened the Deep South to the Cotton Kingdom, setting the stage for the American Civil War yet to come. No other single Indian conflict had such significant impact on the fate of Americaand A Brutal Reckoning is the definitive book on this forgotten chapter in our history.

The true story of the Black Hills gold rush settlement once described as the most diabolical town on earth and of its most colorful cast of characters, from Wild Bill Hickok to Calamity Jane to Al Swearingen and Sheriff Seth Bullock."In these pungent pages, you can smell the whiskey, the gunsmoke, the horse lather, the gold dust, and the mining chemicals . . . A fine non-fiction narrative thats as alluring as its subject. Hampton Sides"If you thought HBOs television series of the same name was hyperbolic, buckle in . . . The TV characters were all real and theyre all here . . . Milchs Deadwood is Shakespearean; Cozzenss is all verifiable fact, yet it loses nothing in the straighter telling . . . [A] fast-paced and unbelievable-if-it-werent-true story." --Carl Hoffman, The Washington PostSifting through layers and layers of myth and legendfrom nineteenth-century dime novels like Deadwood Dick, to HBO prestige dramas to the casino billboards outside of present-day DeadwoodPeter Cozzens unveils the true face of Deadwood, South Dakota, the storied mining town that sprang up in early 1876 and came raining down in ashes only three years later, destined to become food for the imagination and a nostalgic landmark that now brings in more than two and a half million visitors each year.That Western romance, were reminded by Cozzensthe prizewinning author of The Earth Is Weepingretains its allure only as long as we willfully ignore the towns foundational sins. Built on land brazenly stolen from the Lakotas, Deadwood was not merely a place where outlaws lurked, like Tombstone or Dodge City, but was itself an outlaw enterprise, not part of any U.S. territory or subject to U.S. laws or governance. This gave rise to the gunslinging, stagecoach robbing, whiskey guzzling, rampant prostitution, and gambling Deadwood is known for. But it also bred a self-reliance and a spirit of cooperation unique on the frontier, and made it an exceptionally welcoming place for Black Americans and Chinese immigrants at a time of deep-seated discrimination.The first book to tell this complex story in full, Deadwood reveals how one frontier town came to embody the best and worst of the Westa relic of humanitys eternal quest to create order from chaos, a greater good from individual greed, and security from violence.