This is the archetypal story of the American West.Whether it is cast as a tale of unmatched bravery in the face of impossible odds or of insane arrogance receiving its rightful comeuppance,Custer's Last Standcontinues to captivate the imagination.

Nathaniel Philbrickbrilliantly reconstructs the build-up to the Battle of the Little Big Horn through to the final eruption of violence.Two legendary figures dominate the events: George Armstrong Custer and Sitting Bull. Those involved are brought vividly to life, as well as the history, geography and haunting beauty of the Great Plains.

This book provides a thrilling account of what happened there - and why - at the end of June 1876.

Nathaniel Philbrick is an historian and broadcaster whose books includeIn the Heart of the Sea, which was aSunday Timesbestseller and won America's National Book Award (and is director Ron Howard's major new film),Sea of Glory(winner of the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize),Mayflower, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and theSunday TimesbestsellingThe Last Stand. He lives on Nantucket Island and is the founding director of the Egan Institute of Maritime Studies and a research fellow at the Nantucket Historical Association.