StanleyWheeler

 David Larson's One Crowded Hour: The Little Bighorn weighs in at over 400 and 60 some pages, so it's not a light read. For those of you new to U.S. History who have never heard of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Gall, Reno, Benteen, or Custer, I can't imagine how you've remained ignorant of one of the most exciting and controversial episodes of the Old West and The Indian Wars. Here are the facts, not all of which are without dispute: In June of 1876, the U.S. Army sent three columns into Montana Territory after Sioux and Cheyenne who had left the reservation.  ( Note , t he autographed book giveaway is down to the last two days. Enter now to win ).  Custer led the Seventh Cavalry in one of these columns and his scouts found a large Indian village camped along the Little Bighorn River. The natives were not only restless, finding that no casino plans had been formalized, they were expecting blue-coated guests. Thousands of Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho had gathered for the d...

   In June of 1809, about 40 miles from Vienna, while Napoleon's main force and those of Austria's Archduke Charles maneuvered for battle on the Danube, Eugene de Beauharnais commanding French and Italian troops engaged Archduke John near Raab. John had deployed his troops--mostly militia and landwehr with cavalry and artillery--in a defensive position behind the Pancza stream. Beauharnais attacked and after a back and forth battle for the farm at the bridge near the center, concentrated fire from the French guns drove back the Austrian artillery and allowed the French cavalry to ford the river and threaten John's left flank. The French then retook the farm again and John was forced to withdraw. We replayed this battle, and finally finished it yesterday. In the photo above, taken on the next to last turn, the French are on the left and the Austrians on the right. Our battle differed in the details from the historic conflict. First, I enhanced the quality of a couple of the ...

 Interview with Lars Walker Author of The Year of the Warrior, King of Rogaland, Wolf Time, and more Please tell me a little about your current work in progress. For many years I’ve been working on a series of historical fantasies set in the late Viking Age. [I’ll list the books published to date, because there are multiple publishers, which makes everything confusing for the book buyer: 1-2: The Year of the Warrior (a double volume), 3: West Oversea , 4: Hailstone Mountain , 5: The Elder King , 6: King of Rogaland .] This series is based on a real historical character, Erling Skjalgsson of Sola, who was one of the most powerful chieftains in Norway around the year 1000 AD. Now I’m in the planning stages for Book 7: The Baldur Game , which (at least as I see it now) will bring it all to a climax. Erling, a defender of the old Norse democratic system of governance, will have his final showdown with his mortal enemy, King Olaf Haraldsson. After that, I’ll describe Olaf’s own las...

  Hey, look at at this. It's the September Celebration! I'm giving away an autographed copy of my near future dystopian thriller The Shrinking Zone . For your chance to win, click the give-away badge floating on the right.