Hello. I'm Catherine Weller and this is The Open Book.

This week's selection is Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West by Hampton Sides.

There are two usages for the phrase 'blood and thunder.' The first is a name given to the pulp novels detailing the exploits of the legendary Kit Carson. The second is an insult used by contemporary Navajos to refer to the genocidal soldier, Kit Carson. Hampton Sides latest book, Blood and Thunder explores both aspects of Carson….. indeed, both aspects of the settling of the American West.

As the dual meaning of blood and thunder illustrates, the story of America's final push west is twofold. There is the white American's tale of adventure, discovery, freedom and most importantly manifest destiny. President Polk, a Jacksonian democrat, made westward expansion and subsequent domination of the continent a primary goal of his only term in office. He sent John C. Fremont and Kit Carson on their missions to map and help conquer the Mexican territory. Oh, and there was the matter of subjugating the Native Americans, especially the Navajos. Polk used the army for that daunting task. And, of course, that daunting task of conquering the indians is the other side of the story. Navajo leader Narbona referred to the whites as "new men," recognizing they'd change the landscape and his tribe forever. He also believed the whites would have to be dealt with in new ways, not just with battles and raids.

Author Hampton Sides begins his book with the Mexican War and ends it with Kit Carson's Canyon de Chelly round up of the Navajos. He adroitly deals with the point and counterpoint issues of history by alternating view points between the Navajos, principally Narbona and his heir and successor, and the whites, especially Kit Carson. Sides' writing is almost lyrical in nature, but with enough detail to remind the reader that the book is history. He has a gift for making the subjects of his writing seem very human, not legends or gods in the making.

What I particularly enjoy about Sides' histories - his previous book is Ghost Soldiers, a work about the Bataan Death March -- is his ability to make history interesting for a broad audience. Not everyone is as nerdy as I, and Hampton Sides knows it. He's an editor at large for Outside Magazine and brings that journalistic style to his book writing, much as Jon Krakauer did in Under the Banner of Heaven. My one complaint is that I would have liked to see footnotes attributing some particularly intriguing quotes. Blood and Thunder is good popular history for those interested in the history of the West and the so-called Indian Wars. Scholars may feel the book is too simple. But the rest of us will enjoy reading it enough to stay awake a little too late at night.

You've been listening to The Open Book on KCPW. I'm Catherine Weller.

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