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Blood and Thunder
- An Epic of the American West
- Narrated by: Don Leslie
- Length: 20 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Military & War
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Summary
Narbona could not have known that "The Army of the West", in the midst of the longest march in American military history, was merely the vanguard of an inexorable tide fueled by a self-righteous ideology now known as "Manifest Destiny". For 20 years the Navajo, elusive lords of a huge swath of mountainous desert and pasturelands, would ferociously resist the flood of soldiers and settlers who wished to change their ancient way of life - or destroy them.
Critic reviews
"[Sides] eloquently paints the landscape and history of the 19th-century Southwest." ( Publishers Weekly)
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What listeners say about Blood and Thunder
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kristian
- 06-10-16
Epic and fantastic story.
I never knew anything about Kid Carson apart from having heard his name. He is by far one of the most if not the most interesting characters i ever heard about in connection to the american wild west
1 person found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 20-02-22
A fascinating story
Really interesting story, well-narrated and gives a great insight into the early American West. Kit Carson was obviously an incredible person, as well as being one of the key players in the role of manifest destiny in the westward spread of the United States
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- E P
- 31-12-21
Ride with Kit Carson and view the West
This is a fascinating account of the life of Kit Carson and his relationship with the Navajo Indians. It uses an aspect of American history that I was not personally familiar with, going into some detail about the Civil War in the West. It’s well written with a narrative that is a lively but still informative
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- Kath
- 30-07-21
Brilliant book, Brilliantly read
Loved the book, so informative. Narrator was fantastic, the best I've ever heard. The 2 combined made for a wonderful read. Thank you
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- Katy Falconer
- 10-06-21
Amazing
A truly brilliant insight into the American West from the first settlers, to Indian wars and story of the famous trappers
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- Gj
- 23-02-20
Heard about it on Joe Rogan too ???
Excellent book and written well keeps you interested throughout.
If you’ve any interest in how the west was truly “won” look no further.
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- Matt
- 25-01-20
A brilliant story
Such an interesting book, really well narrated. Well worth a listen, learnt a lot about the mid west.
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- Derek McCallum
- 23-01-20
An excellent account of a wild time in history.
An excellent account of a wild and brutal time in history. Extremely detailed story to the point I thought I was there. The narrator gives a great account of himself with a voice I could listen to all day.
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- Eric
- 07-02-11
Publisher's summary does not do it justice
At its core, this is the history of Manifest Destiny in action. First, this is an outstanding book, and covers an arc of history of the American west spanning from the first decades of the 1800's to the end of the Civil War. The narration mainly follows the extraordinary life of Kit Carson, who managed to be at the center of an astonishing number of historical events in the west. The first act covers the early days of the west before modern Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California were incorporated into the Union and the Santa Fe trail represented the limits of the frontier. It then follows the wars and annexation that consolidated the US's presence in the west, the establishment of the Oregon Trail and immigration that followed. The third act of the book focuses on the Navajo and the tragic attempt to settle them at Bosque Redondo, and this final part of the book is moving and tragic, but ends on a hopeful note. The narration is excellent, and although like many history books, it can feel a little slow at parts in the beginning, the pay off is definitely worth it.
38 people found this helpful
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- russell
- 09-12-08
Unforgettable
This had to be one of the best I've ever had. The story of Kit Carson is unbelievable it's men like him who helped shape America for the good and the bad. If you like history this book will definitely open your eyes to a lot of things that were never taught in school but things that you wish they would of have taught us. The narrator was on the money he was perfect for the book and if you like American history and a true story this is definitely the book you want you won't be disappointed
33 people found this helpful
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- Tom
- 21-03-07
History Many Don't Know
This is a wonderful book, wonderfully narrated. The book tells the story of the US war with Mexico to acquire what is now the southwestern part of the country. It is not, I believe, well known. At least, it wasn't to me. The story of the US Army's dealings with the Indian tribes in the area, particularly the Navajo, is also told. Much of the book deals with Kit Carson, who, I discover, was a huge figure in achieving our manifest destiny, along with President Polk and Senator Benton. Carson is one of the most fascinating figures in American history. News to me.
29 people found this helpful
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- Manuel Barrera, PhD
- 07-08-21
couldn't get past the biased narrative
All credit to the narrator who is doing a good job recording the story, I couldn't get past the inherent idolatry of the narrative regarding the story of who the author admits was a " natural born killer" not to mention a silent abusive bully. The author's depictions of the Navajo and other native peoples is peppered with racist innuendo of "blood curdling war whoops" and supposed sneakiness attributed to people who were here and then systematically displaced by actual savages, the Europeans, was simply too hard to you read further, so,. just had to stop. I will accept the charge that I didn't give this book its due by not completely reading it. The stench of doing so would have too much to bear and i would have felt unclean doing so. Others may think differently, but this kind anti hero narrative about the "mountain men" who acted " like Indians" is unappealing as it is an all to common mantra about the "American West". I was looking for an historical narrative and all I seemed to be getting was hero worship about a racist on the plains. I'm sorry but I couldn't really continue.
7 people found this helpful
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- Andy
- 14-04-08
great
Wow! I wish more nonfiction books were written like this. Using a storyteller's narrative, the author manages to be factual, balanced and entertaining.
12 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 05-06-08
blood and thunder
A fabulous book about Kit Carson and the development of the southwest. The reader was great as well as a very well told story. I heard Hampton Sides speak in Santa Fe after listening to the book and he told of the tremendous amount of research that he did. If you like history and the Southwest, this is a must read.
10 people found this helpful
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- Dwight
- 27-03-07
Engaging and enlightening
While difficult to feel pride in this chapter of our American heritage, this book carries you through the historic period guided by the US policy of manifest destiny. The central character is Kit Carson, who embodies the phrase 'a legend in his own time.' If ever there was a man of skill, integrity, honor and fortune, it is he. Carson was a man who defined good in an era when the US imposed its will on Native Americans. The book does not make Kit Carson infallible, but it does provide a sound, timeless role model.
There are also many others on all sides of the conflicts, who portray the best and worst of the human character.
Twenty hours is a long story, but I found myself antsy to carve time to keep 'turning the pages.'
15 people found this helpful
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- Andrew Raymond
- 22-10-08
An Insightful Account
Mr. Sides has an astounding talent for taking otherwise dry historical accounts and making them into well paced reads for the non-historian.
To some extent, the precis on this book is deceptive, in that Narbona is not the core character. It would be much more true to say that Kit Carson is central to this book, as it largely follows his post-trapping career in the American southwest, and ends just after his death.
One thing which does come through clearly here is how much complete failure to comprehend cultural differences, ignorant bigotry, and narrow-minded military mindsets on the Mexican, Indian, and American parts combined to contribute to numerous needless atrocities by all sides shaped the character of the Southwest. Happily, many figures of the time (Carson, Kearney, Narbona) come out as clear of all of these factors. Unfortunately many others (Chivington, Carlton, Manualito) come through as clear contributors.
All together, this book came out as a very balanced characterization of a difficult time in American history.
The presentation is clear and the pacing is good. Mr. Leslie does a reasonable job of contributing accent to quotations to characterize them as distinct from narrative text.
14 people found this helpful
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- Stephen Kilborn
- 21-10-07
excellent
i live in taos and so this book hits home. i think it has a balanced approach to kit carson. very good listen. the only problem i had was with some of the readers pronunciations of spanish words like rio grande and basque.
9 people found this helpful
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- Aussie Punter
- 21-10-07
Fantastic
I listened to this title while driving across the traditional homeland of the Navajo, which in some ways made the words more alive than they would be if listened to elsewhere, but even allowing for the dual enchantment of the land combined with the words, Blood and Thunder is a masterpiece. I've subsequently listened to the entire book again, and it was as good as the first time.
7 people found this helpful