The Story of the Little Big Horn by Colonel W. A. Graham, Second Edition, Later Printing, 1945

Graham, Col. William A. The Story of the Little Big Horn: Custer’s Last Fight. Harrisburg: Military Service Publishing Co., 1945. Second edition, later printing. Octavo. In original grey cloth boards, with black text and red illustrations embossed on the front and spine. No jacket. Illustrated throughout. 

Presented is a second edition, later printing of The Story of Little Big Horn: Custer’s Last Fight by Colonel William A. Graham. The book was first published in 1926 by The Century Co. The second edition was published  in 1941 by Military Service Publishing Co. This second edition, later printing was published in 1945 by Military Service Publishing Co., in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is presented in its original grey cloth boards, with black titles and red pictorial elements embossed to the front and spine, and illustrated with over 30 illustrations and maps. 

Colonel W. A. Graham’s The Story of the Little Big Horn is an important study of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Written close to fifty years after the battle, Graham’s account examines the events of June 25- June 26, 1876, when Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and the 7th U.S. Cavalry were overwhelmed and defeated by a force of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors. In The Story of Little Big Horn, Graham considers the military circumstances that contributed to the destruction of Custer’s command, in effort to distinguish the historical record from the mythology that rapidly grew around “Custer’s Last Stand.”

Graham’s work is celebrated for its reliance on military records, contemporary testimony, and firsthand accounts. He was less concerned with assigning blame than with establishing what actually occurred on the battlefield, including the division of the regiment, the intelligence available to Custer, the size and organization of the Native encampment, and the actions of Major Reno and Captain Benteen. 

The book became an important early contribution to the history of the Little Bighorn and was well received, both in its time and as later editions were published. The New York Times’ 1926 book review of the first edition wrote “Lieut. Col. Graham… has weighed and presented all the available evidence in a commendably judicial manner.” Upon release of a later paperback edition in 1963, Hal Bridges, of the New York Times, wrote, “Evidence on the disaster [of Little Bighorn] is fragmentary and controversial. More may have been written about it than about the battle of Gettysburg. Colonel Graham's little book provides a concise, judicious account.”

William Alexander Graham (1875–1954) was an American attorney and career military officer whose professional background as a judge advocate strongly influenced his historical methodology. He studied at Beloit College, Stanford University, and the University of Iowa, where he received his law degree in 1897. After practicing law, Graham joined the Iowa National Guard in 1912 and later served in the U.S. Army, spending much of his military career in the Judge Advocate General’s Department. 

Graham began his intensive study of the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1919. He spent years examining military records and interviewing participants and survivors before publishing The Story of the Little Big Horn. He later edited The Reno Court of Inquiry: Abstract of the Official Record of Proceedings and The Custer Myth: A Source Book of Custeriana, further establishing his reputation as a careful and influential researcher of the Custer campaign. 

CONDITION:

Very good + condition. Octavo. Second edition, later printing. In original gray cloth hardcover boards. Black titles and a red portrait of Custer embossed on the front board, black titles and a red gun embossed on the spine. Bumping and light fraying along the top and bottom spine, wear to cloth along outer hinges. Uneven sunning. No jacket. Interior pages are very healthy. Illustrated with over 30 black and white illustrations and maps, all accounted for.

Book Dimensions: 9 1/4'' H x 6 1/2'' W x 1'' D.

Accompanied by our company's letter of authenticity.