Paul VanDevelder

I couldn't disagree more with the first review. Something is missing there. This book was featured by Marilyn Dahl on Shelf Awareness, and the following review by Harvard book blog reviewer, John Eklund, sums up my impression...

Here is a profound dismantling of the whole mythical edifice surrounding the westward expansion that shaped the republic. VanDevelder identifies our historical amnesia about federal Indian policy as a profound moral crisis that needs to be confronted, and after reading his book, it’s hard to argue with him. He’s spent a lifetime exposing some of the ruthless conduct that continued well into the 20th century, and his previous book, Coyote Warrior, really had an impact. Some have called Savages & Scoundrels a Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee for the 21st century, and it’s an apt comparison. With the 1851 Treaty at Horse Creek as Exhibit A, VanDevelder unpacks the consequences of this broken treaty. It’s a shocking and passionate book, but one anchored in impeccable scholarship. [John Eklund]… (meer)

Good Topic, Average Writing

I read this book simultaneously as the new PBS docu-series "We Shall Remain" was aired. The topic is a great one and often what is written in textbooks hardly tells the full story of America's first peoples.

As a topic, I think "Savages & Scoundrels" is a great one, under-studied and traditionally distorted. However, I felt that VanDevelder's writing lacked a sense of focus. Mostly drifting from moment to moment, topic to topic, without much of a central theme or argument. Academically, I think the book is well-researched, but structurally the book is not well put together.

In addition, there is a lot of filler in the book which is completely unnecessary. The book could have been half as long, and twice as precise if VanDevelder had selected fewer cases to study and expanded his analysis to provide a much tighter text. The book definitely could have benefited from a more extensive edit.

There are not many good books that explore this side of social and political history. "Savages & Scoundrels" seeks to be one of them, a textual version of "We Shall Remain" -- but unfortunately the writing falls short of telling this important history.… (meer)