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Winning of America #6
Twilight of Empire
One of the premier chroniclers of our nation's turbulent frontier history, Allan W. Ecker now presents another spellbinding chapter in the conquest of the American wilderness. Here is the powerful, compellingly human story of the white man's struggle to claim the rich land of the Northern Mississippi--ancestral home of the Fox and Sac tribes--from the legendary war chief Black Hawk. Having killed his first enemy at sixteen. This proud, brooding warrior extends a hand in friendship to the Spanish and the British, but harbors a lifelong hatred for the Americans, who once burned his home village. Now charged by the president himself, the ambitious governor of Illinois Territory leads a brave and illustrious group of settlers and soldiers to wrest the beautiful land from a nation of destiny and a noble chieftain fated to be betrayed by his own kind.
734 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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548 people want to read
About the author
Allan W. Eckert
80 books294 followersAllan W. Eckert was an American historian, historical novelist, and naturalist.
Eckert was born in Buffalo, New York, and raised in the Chicago, Illinois area, but had been a long-time resident of Bellefontaine, Ohio, near where he attended college. As a young man, he hitch-hiked around the United States, living off the land and learning about wildlife. He began writing about nature and American history at the age of thirteen, eventually becoming an author of numerous books for children and adults. His children's novel, Incident at Hawk's Hill, was a runner-up for the Newbery Medal in 1972. One of his novels tells how the great auk went extinct.
In addition to his novels, he also wrote several unproduced screenplays and more than 225 Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom television shows for which he received an Emmy Award.
In a 1999 poll conducted by the Ohioana Library Association, jointly with Toni Morrison, Allan W. Eckert was voted "Favorite Ohio Writer of All Time."
Eckert died in his sleep on July 7, 2011, in Corona, California, at the age of 80.
Eckert was born in Buffalo, New York, and raised in the Chicago, Illinois area, but had been a long-time resident of Bellefontaine, Ohio, near where he attended college. As a young man, he hitch-hiked around the United States, living off the land and learning about wildlife. He began writing about nature and American history at the age of thirteen, eventually becoming an author of numerous books for children and adults. His children's novel, Incident at Hawk's Hill, was a runner-up for the Newbery Medal in 1972. One of his novels tells how the great auk went extinct.
In addition to his novels, he also wrote several unproduced screenplays and more than 225 Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom television shows for which he received an Emmy Award.
In a 1999 poll conducted by the Ohioana Library Association, jointly with Toni Morrison, Allan W. Eckert was voted "Favorite Ohio Writer of All Time."
Eckert died in his sleep on July 7, 2011, in Corona, California, at the age of 80.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 12, 2015
Now I have read all of Eckert's Narratives of America series and they were excellent! Eckert wrote books that I love to read and wish I had written. The books are a blend of fantastic story-telling and epic history of the American frontier in its earliest years. "Twilight of Empire" is the sixth book and covers The Black Hawk War of 1832. I did not know much of the conflict other than Abraham Lincoln saw brief military service and hoped to learn more of the its cause and outcome. Eckert taught me more than I could have imagined and that was one reason I gave this book four stars.
The author typically dealt with frontier warfare that was epic in scope, the international upheavals of the Seven Year War, The mass killings of the American Revolution, The destruction of the Iroquois Confederacy, the consequential rebellions of Pontiac and Tecumseh. In contrast the Black Hawk War was a tiny and tawdry affair. It lasted little more time than a steamboat could traverse the length of the Mississippi in the high season and the number of casualties, of both American and Sac and Fox forces, did not add up to a thousand. At times I wondered if the number of pages were justified by the action. Still, the war and Eckert's book had moments of high drama.
The high point of Sac success was the absolute route of Illinois Militia now know as Stillman's Run. Eckert deems this defeat as the most embarrassing show of American prowess in our nation's military history. The low point was the destruction of the Sac Tribe as it retreated westward across the Mississippi and was caught between the pincers of American steamboats on one side and American allies, Sioux and Menimominees, on the other. It is hard not to cheer for Black Hawk and his warriors in this conflict.
I thought it was interesting that Eckert portrayed how unimpressive Abraham Lincoln's military career was as he, I think accurately, showed that the Illinois recruits ignored and defied his authority. Still, Lincoln was shown as decent and thoughtful, simply not cut out for the rigors of soldiering.
Many future military personalities are introduced within the pages of this book. It shows the bookishness of Winfield Scott and how his medical acumen saved the American Army from a Cholera outbreak, the doggedness of Zachary Taylor, and the often misplaced idealism of Jefferson Davis. Violence perpetrated by both sides is common in Eckert's book and he is careful to record the basis of each outrage in his end-notes (Yes, this historical fiction contains end-notes!). The entire conflict erupted over what too often happened in American history, a shady land deal that through outright chicanery and (at times) honest confusion left Native Americans on the short end of the stick. The book is, perhaps, too lengthy. Still, I highly recommend all of Eckert's books. He wrote about American and Native history as very few people have the will, talent and the even-handedness to do. "Twilight of Empire" was another heartbreaking and sad tale.
The author typically dealt with frontier warfare that was epic in scope, the international upheavals of the Seven Year War, The mass killings of the American Revolution, The destruction of the Iroquois Confederacy, the consequential rebellions of Pontiac and Tecumseh. In contrast the Black Hawk War was a tiny and tawdry affair. It lasted little more time than a steamboat could traverse the length of the Mississippi in the high season and the number of casualties, of both American and Sac and Fox forces, did not add up to a thousand. At times I wondered if the number of pages were justified by the action. Still, the war and Eckert's book had moments of high drama.
The high point of Sac success was the absolute route of Illinois Militia now know as Stillman's Run. Eckert deems this defeat as the most embarrassing show of American prowess in our nation's military history. The low point was the destruction of the Sac Tribe as it retreated westward across the Mississippi and was caught between the pincers of American steamboats on one side and American allies, Sioux and Menimominees, on the other. It is hard not to cheer for Black Hawk and his warriors in this conflict.
I thought it was interesting that Eckert portrayed how unimpressive Abraham Lincoln's military career was as he, I think accurately, showed that the Illinois recruits ignored and defied his authority. Still, Lincoln was shown as decent and thoughtful, simply not cut out for the rigors of soldiering.
Many future military personalities are introduced within the pages of this book. It shows the bookishness of Winfield Scott and how his medical acumen saved the American Army from a Cholera outbreak, the doggedness of Zachary Taylor, and the often misplaced idealism of Jefferson Davis. Violence perpetrated by both sides is common in Eckert's book and he is careful to record the basis of each outrage in his end-notes (Yes, this historical fiction contains end-notes!). The entire conflict erupted over what too often happened in American history, a shady land deal that through outright chicanery and (at times) honest confusion left Native Americans on the short end of the stick. The book is, perhaps, too lengthy. Still, I highly recommend all of Eckert's books. He wrote about American and Native history as very few people have the will, talent and the even-handedness to do. "Twilight of Empire" was another heartbreaking and sad tale.
January 28, 2013
If you like historical novels this is a wonderful book, filled with heartbreaking details of the American expansion into Indian territory. It is long, but really paints a clear (and accurate) portrait of that time in our nation's history.
January 29, 2020
Very good conclusion to an excellent series. This final book focuses on Black Hawk's War in 1832 and the events leading up to a final showdown against the famous Sac insurgent. It is probably my least favorite of the six books but it's still quite good.
September 12, 2015
Of the five of this series that I've read, this has to be one of the best. This one focused on the life of Black Hawk and the war against him in the 1830s in Illinois and Wisconsin and it was sharply told, focused and as usual objective, and not quite as gruesome or wandering as some of the others. And it supports the old adage of "once you practice to deceive" as it shows how one deception spiraled out of control to war and terror.
May 23, 2011
The saddest story.
March 19, 2014
Best historical fiction that's not really fiction I have ever read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews