Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee : An Indian History of the American West.
Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970. 49 black & white reproductions and photographic portraits. First edition, first printing in second issue dust jacket lacking front jacket code. Hardcover, in dust jacket. Octavo. 487pp. Rear corners gently pressed, mild foxing to text block edges, overall a fine and square copy in near fine, lightly spine-sunned dust jacket with very light edge wear, in mylar cover. Item #208398
LOSING THE WEST
Brown's seminal work exposed the systematic destruction of Indigenous Peoples in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and thrust itself into the American psyche. Praised by many from the moment it was first printed, Bury My Heart has never been out of print. Pulitzer Prize-winning Kiowa author Scott Momaday praised Brown's careful documentation and narrative design and identifies the heartbreaking tension posed by our history: "The book covers only 30 years—1860 to 1890—but they are the years in which the West was won, as they say, and the culture and civilization of the Indians lost."
America's haunted past was thrown into the spotlight by Brown's thorough research and compelling narrative, and helped the American Indian Movement (AIM) gain traction. Tragically, as this book was being published, the atrocities at My Lai were only just coming to the surface. American historian Hampton Sides connected these barbarous histories in a modern reprint of Bury My Heart: "Here was a book filled with a hundred My Lais, a book that explored the dark roots of American arrogance while dealing a near-deathblow to our fondest folk myth."
A scarce presentation copy, simply inscribed by Brown: "For Terry Hicks / Sincerely / Dee Brown."
Price: $3,500.00