Empire of the Summer Moon
S. C. Gwynne's 2010 history rebuilt the popular American imagination of the Comanche from the ground up. The book braids two stories, the four-decade rise and fall of the Comanche empire on the southern plains as a horse culture that out-fought every army it met, from Spanish conquistadors to Texas Rangers to the U.S. Cavalry, and the unlikely arc of Cynthia Ann Parker, kidnapped at nine in a 1836 East Texas raid, raised among the Nokoni Comanche, and married to Chief Peta Nocona. Their son Quanah Parker grew up to be the most feared war chief of his people and, after the final defeat at Palo Duro Canyon in 1875, helped negotiate his nation's painful transition to the reservation. Gwynne writes with the pace of a thriller and the grain of an archive. A modern classic of American frontier history.
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The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
S. C. Gwynne traces the rise and fall of the Comanche empire on the southern plains, the 1836 raid that captured nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker, and the life of her mixed-race son Quanah, the last great Comanche chief.
Yes. Empire of the Summer Moon is S.C. Gwynne's nonfiction history of the Comanche, focused on the rise and fall of the Comanche empire and the life of Quanah Parker, the last Comanche chief. Gwynne researched the period extensively.
Yes. Empire of the Summer Moon was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for History in 2011 and a New York Times bestseller. It is widely considered one of the most accessible and well-researched popular histories of the American West.
Empire of the Summer Moon was written by S. C. Gwynne, published in 2010 by Scribner.
Empire of the Summer Moon is 386 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Empire of the Summer Moon takes most readers 6 to 8 hours to finish.
Empire of the Summer Moon is a standalone novel by S. C. Gwynne, not part of a series.
Empire of the Summer Moon is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
