Custer: A Photographic Biography

Bill and Jan Moeller have taken a new approach in telling the stirring story of George Armstrong Custer, the places where he lived, fought and died. The approach is a photographic one, not of the dashing Cavalry hero but of geographic places where he walked, rode, fought, lived - and died. Places like the farm house of his boyhood home in Ohio, the towers at West Point,and the serene green landscape alongside the Hudson, of the cannons at Manassas, his first Civil War battle, of the blue skies and open field at Brandy Station, the site of the biggest Cavalry fight on North American soil, and of another open field, that one alongside Rummel's farm at place called Gettysburg. The Moellers continue this photographic journey, through the beautiful flowers and plant overgrowth of that terrible place called the Wilderness, to the bushy ground of Yellow Tavern, where Jeb Stuart was mortally wounded by a soldier under Custer's command, into the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, and on to a place called Appomattox, where their frames captured the beautiful and tranquil southern home where Lee surrendered to Grant. Then out west, to the desolate brown flatlands of the Oklahoma territory, to the plains where the buffalo roamed (and still do), and on to those desolate Black Hills, and a date with destiny at a greasy grass filled hillside not far from a stream called the Little Big Horn. Throughout this journey, the Moellers provide the reader with strikingly beautiful all-color photographs that capture the natural beauty and the drama of the places associated with Custer. There is also a fine text equal to a mini-biography of Custer. And not one image of him, save for the striking statue on the cover. And not one contemporary photograph or illustration either. I believe that the Custer book was the first photo-history that the Moellers chose to do. Since then they have covered the Oregon Trail, Lewis and Clark, Chief Joseph, and Crazy Horse, among other topics. But their Custer book represents their best work, and while the original hardcover is out-of-print and a rarity at used book stores, they have reprinted this slim volume in a paperback edition found here. If you are a Custer enthusiast, or just interested in Western history captured in remarkable photographs, this is a worthy and very unique book to include in your collection.