Custer: Lessons in Leadership

Colorful, charismatic, and controversial, George Armstrong Custer became a national hero at the age of twenty-three when he was promoted to the rank of brigadier generalbarely two years after graduating at the bottom of his class from West Point. He was idolized both by his men and by the American public, though he endured two courts-martial and temporary dismissal from the Army. Custer pushed himself harder and longer than most, owing to an intense ambition to succeed and a hunger for glory and fame. He was contemptuous of danger, taking chances that no one else would take, which earned him the reputation among some observers of being reckless. Redeeming himself through his actions at the front, he resurrected his former glory with a stunning victory over the Cheyenne Indians using tactics he had perfected during the Civil War. General Custer was one of those larger-than-life figures whose flamboyant personality, daring, and seeming invincibility became legendary. Here, author Duane Schultz shows why he remains one of the most fascinating figures in American military history.

Duane Schultz is a psychologist and the author of several books of military history, including Quantrill's War and The Most Glorious Fourth: Vicksburg and Gettysburg, July 4th, 1863. He splits his time between Clearwater, Florida and Washington, DC.

“This compact biography of George Armstrong Custer is deftly written and offers a well-reasoned and balanced interpretation of its subject.  Schultz's research is an impressive blend of primary and secondary sources.  Custer fills a gap between those minutely detailed biographies that glorify and sometimes mythologize the man, and those skim-the-surface studies that undervalue Custer's achievements to the Civil War and Indian fighting armies.”—Edward G. Longacre, author of Custer and His Wolverines  “Custer is a swiftly paced and compelling biography of the "Boy General" of the Civil War and the cavalry officer who led his men at Little Big Horn.  George Armstrong Custer was a fascinating American, a man of towering inconsistencies, who Schultz captures well in this finely written book.”--Jeffry D. Wert, author of Custer:  The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer "Provides about as much information as the average reader needs to know about the flamboyant general."--Kirkus “Brief but incisive.”--American History Magazine