I ELIZABETH

by Ruth Painter Randall ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 7, 1966

In this biography of Elizabeth Clift Bacon, who became the wife of General Custer, the author has used the same techniques and form which she followed in her other books (I Mary, I Varina) about the wives of famous Civil War personalities. This has included extremely careful research of all available first hand documents--letters, diaries, and in this case, the books which Elizabeth Custer wrote about her travels and experiences as an army wife. The criticism which could be levelled at this account is that the author has taken her subject a little too seriously. Elizabeth Custer is always treated as the central personality rather than approached as a means of understanding her famous, often controversial husband, and her feminine, not always well-informed descriptions of events are offered too much at face value with the text acquiring Elizabeth's Victorian, over-stated style. Nevertheless, this faithfulness to the subject has resulted in a depth which is rare in juvenile biography, an extremely precise revelation of Elizabeth Custer's personality and of the social concerns and attitudes of her time and place. The readership will be limited to girls, who will find it a pleasure rather than a chore.

Pub Date: April 7, 1966

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1966

Categories: NONFICTION