BLOOD BROTHER

by Elliott Arnold ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 21, 1946

To anyone concerned with the tragic story of the American Indian this will be of absorbing interest. To many other readers, Blood Brothers may well create an interest not hitherto there, for it is unique in its penetration of the Indian psychology, the Indian way of life. The central characters are Cochise, gallant chief of the Chiricahua Apaches in the period spanning the Civil War, and Tom Jeffords, government scout, who became staunch advocate of the policy upon which he and Cochise built peace between the white settlers of New Mexico and the Apaches. It is impossible in brief space to convey the fascination of the book. Arnold has rooted his story in exhaustive research inspired by a profound reverence for the greatness of the men whose friendship has become an anomaly in the history of the white man's treatment of the Indians. He has not glossed over the faults on either side; he has shown indisputably that the betrayal of honor, the breaking of faith lay with the settlers, avid of their newly won rights, greedy and cruel and ignorant. The story has an epic quality, told against a background of mountain fastnesses and desert. It also has a double thread of romance interwoven with the major theme of blood brotherhood. At times the pace of the story is slowed by the author's reluctance to discard some of the colorful material he has uncovered, material not strictly of a piece with his plot. The handling of the Jeffords-Cochise relationship is beautifully done; Jeffords' love for the Indian girl he marrie is more consistently successful than the somewhat stilted development of the romance of Jeffords and Terry, a romance which was to him a secondary phase of a long life. Sympathetic and moving approach to a too often misinterpreted phase of our nation's growth. A book that all libraries will want, and that -- if it gets the right sort of break in the press, should have a reasonably wide general sale. Arnold has done two novels and two documentary records of the war theatres. This is his first book with an American background.

Pub Date: Feb. 21, 1946

ISBN: 0803259018

Page Count: -

Publisher: Duell, Sloan & Pearce

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1946

Categories: FICTION