The Fifties: The Way We Really Were

Abstract

All too frequently the perimeters of western history have been set by narrative expositions more chronological and descriptive than analytical and interpretive.Haley's attempt to write a scholarly and readable synthesis of the causes and events of the Red River War of 1874-1875 meets with the usual mixed results.Many important participants such as General John Pope and Quanah Parker and dramatic episodes like the battles of Adobe Walls and Palo Duro Canyon have already found their historians, but Haley aspires to author the first comprehensive study of the entire war.Unfortunately, Haley is most at ease and effective in his examination of the conflict, not its causes.Numerous treaty violations and depredations by white buffalo hunters and horse thieves may have precipitated the war, but the more illusive federal, regional, and military affairs lying behind the most obvious remain obscured by inadequate or superficial treatment.Nevertheless, Haley's fresh, fast-paced, and thoroughly absorbing account of "the final campaign of the white man versus the Southern Plains Indians" [dust jacket] justly deserves acclaim by scholars and general readers alike.Doubleday and Haley are to be complimented for a generally well produced work of nonfiction.A rich bibliography and numerous photographs and maps are pertinent and informative as well as entertaining.However, the publisher also deserves harsh criticism for subjecting all readers to an absurd system of source citation incorporating unnumbered backnotes identified only by reference to the appropriate page and key words or phrases appearing in the text.The most reasonable price of this volume is of some compensation for this awkward method of footnoting, but this system will forever remain a poor bargain at any price.Notwithstanding this and a few other shortcomings, Haley's book will be a genuinely welcome addition to anyone's library.