Empire of the summer moon : Quanah Parker and the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history / S.C. Gwynne

Includes bibliographical references (p. 343-355) and index.

A new kind of war -- A lethal paradise -- Worlds in collision -- High lonesome -- The wolf's howl -- Blood and smoke -- Dream visions and Apocalypse -- White squaw -- Chasing the wind -- Death's innocent face -- War to the knife -- White queen of the Comanches -- The rise of Quanah -- Uncivil wars -- Peace and other horrors -- The anti-Custer -- Mackenzie unbound -- The hide men and the messiah -- The Red River War -- Forward, in defeat -- This was a man -- Resting here until day breaks.

A stunningly vivid historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West, centering on Quanah, the greatest Comanche chief of them all, spanning two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches.

English.