Crazy Horse: A Lakota Life

The Civilization of the American Indian Series

By: Kingsley M. Bray

Narrated by: John Burlinson

Crazy Horse was as much feared by tribal foes as he was honored by allies. His war record was unmatched by any of his peers, and his rout of Custer at the Little Bighorn reverberates through history. Yet so much about him is unknown or steeped in legend.

Crazy Horse: A Lakota Life corrects older, idealized accounts - and draws on a greater variety of sources than other recent biographies - to expose the real Crazy Horse: not the brash Sioux warrior we have come to expect but a modest, reflective man whose courage was anchored in Lakota piety. Kingsley M. Bray has plumbed interviews of Crazy Horse’s contemporaries and consulted modern Lakotas to fill in vital details of Crazy Horse’s inner and public life.

Bray places Crazy Horse within the rich context of the 19th-century Lakota world. He reassesses the war chief’s achievements in numerous battles and retraces the tragic sequence of misunderstandings, betrayals, and misjudgments that led to his death. Bray also explores the private tragedies that marred Crazy Horse’s childhood and the network of relationships that shaped his adult life.

To this day, Crazy Horse remains a compelling symbol of resistance for modern Lakotas. Crazy Horse: A Lakota Life is a singular achievement, scholarly and authoritative, offering a complete portrait of the man and a fuller understanding of his place in American Indian and United States history.

The book is published by University of Oklahoma Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

©2006 University of Oklahoma Press (P)2019 Redwood Audiobooks

Poor recording

The only thing wrong with this title and its performance is the audio quality. It sounded to me as if the reader's voice was recorded through a tube. The story is fairly well read. Its text is engaging and fascinating. The quality of the audio really disappoints.
I noticed also that the narrator, as stated in other reviews, was not a native Lakota speaker. There were stumbles and repeats in the audio.
This is a fine and highly detailed, well researched book about a man of legendary status. If the text has any one flaw, it is perhaps a bit too wordy in small doses. I gave up on the Audible version with its poor recording quality and bought the paperback.

Crazy Horse, America’s greatest Warrior

What a great man Crazy Horse was. So good to his people and so much integrity and what is not known how generous he was. He is so underrated as an American hero. He was the leader of two of the United States military most one sided defeats. And he was always out gunned. He was brave and generous. And he was not a bragging man.

Very Good

Was a very good and informative telling of the life of a Man who was an inspiration to the Lakota people. It cleared up a lot of folk tales and presented him in a new light. The narrator did a very god jog keeping you involved in the story. I received a free copy of the book in return for an unbiased review.

tsalagi pride

its a very good tale of the myth of crazy horse I suggest it to all.

Haven't the Lakota suffered long enough?

The content of this book goes unquestioned .. it is an excellent read and an excellent resource for native and non native alike imo. However, hasn't the language and haven't the people suffered long enough? Why subject them to this joke of a narrator? I can't even get through 5 minutes without cringing because his pronunciations are so far from actual language!
it's so bad that I couldn't finish the book!
WHY ISNT THE NARRATOR A SPEAKER?!
WHO BETTER TO SPEAK OF LAKOTA LIFE THAN A LAKOTA SPEAKER.... IF YOU NEED ONE, IM SURE YOU COULD FIND ONE! I COULD!!
GEEZ!
Have some respect for people's language culture and people!!
I bet you wouldn't get a narrator for a Hindu book about life in India that couldn't pronounce the names of Hindu God's and spiritual practices properly! why would you just throw someone who has OBVIOUSLY NEVER even spoken one word of Lakota into a narrating roll?!
😔 so sad because this could have been a wonderful narration.