From the Preface...

I am telling [George Armstrong Custer's] story in a particular light, with a particular sense of context. The result, I hope, is not simply an addition to a familiar story--he was famous for this as well as for that--but something larger and more comprehensive. I want to explain why his celebrity, and notoriety, spanned both the Civil War and his years on the frontier, resting on neither exclusively but incorporating both.