Henry Hastings Sibley: Divided Heart
"In the theatre of American memory Henry Hastings Sibley seems a mere shadow, a frontier figure ignored by many historians and forgotten by most Americans. But as Rhoda R. Gilman makes plain in her compelling biography, Sibley was an emblematic character caught in a world of dramatic change. Marked by nuanced and sensitive judgments, this book offers readers a perceptive portrait of a complex man struggling to find his way in a difficult time. Sibley was a 'regional' man; his dilemmas and challenges were national and even universal. Gilman's book is yet another testimony to the power of biography to reveal the contours of our shared past. Reading Henry Hastings Sibley: Divided Heart is to know that one life can open us to many lives." -- James P. Ronda, author of Jefferson's West: A Journey with Lewis and Clark and Barnard Professor of Western American History at the University of Tulsa. "Exhaustively researched and skillfully written, Rhoda Gilman?s fascinating story of Henry H. Sibley, the central character in Minnesota's early development, expertly interweaves his careers as fur trader, politician, and general with the national and regional movements that transformed Minnesota into the industrial age. A major contribution to the historiography of nineteenth-century Minnesota."-- William E. Lass, author of Minnesota: A History and Professor Emeritus of History, Minnesota State University, Mankato