NIGHT OF THE CRUEL MOON

In the Library of American Indian History series, a detailed account of the deportation of the Cherokee from the southeastern US to Oklahoma. After giving a brief history of Cherokee-European relations prior to 1824, Hoig (It's the Fourth of July, 1995, etc.) focuses on the events of 1834-1839, leading up to and including the Trail of Tears itself. Most of the discussion is devoted to the conflicts between the Cherokee leadership and the state and federal governments, and to arguments among the Cherokee themselves and among members of the US government. While this highly specialized text does not wholly ignore other aspects of Cherokee culture, they are treated essentially from a political point of view. A number of interesting first-person accounts are included, as well as several biographies of prominent cultural and political leaders. The polished writing is not without stylistic problems; Hoig exhibits a naive use of rhetoric, especially in the beginning of the book, when the whole affair is overly sentimentalized. The facts of this history speak volumes, and as such, need no emotional embellishment to be effective. (maps, b&w photos and illustrations, index, not seen, bibliography, notes) (Nonfiction. 11-18)