September 03, 2012

Tecumseh by Paul Joseph Lederer

I like exploring different aspects of our history in this country. And in particular I've always been intrigued with the story of Tecumseh. This was a telling of the Tecumseh story, but widely different than anything I had ever read before. And to be honest, I didn't really like it.

Tecumseh was born under the prophecy of a shooting star. He was born to be a Warrior, and with the Americans encroaching further and further into their territory, an inevitable war breaks out. Tecumseh's first thought is war, but between his wife, true love, and a slave who worships him, he also has his hands pretty full with women too. As the years pass, he becomes more desperate to regain what used to belong to his tribe.

Tecumseh was a pretty flat character. Aside from his quick love for Elizabeth, the English woman he meets by chance, he doesn't really seem to care about much but the war that is raging on. Even his son by his wife he doesn't really express interest in. Elizabeth herself is such a weird character and I really didn't see what value she added to the story. The same with all of the women in Tecumseh's life really, with maybe the exception of the wife as she provided some antagonism.

The plot contained some historical accuracies. Some of the main battles were mentioned that Tecumseh was part of. And some real people were also included. But the main part of this book was pure fabrication. It kind of hurt to read actually. Especially all of Tecumseh's love interests. While I'm sure the guy probably slept around a little bit I doubt it happened in the way this book described. It just seemed too implausible. There was also a bit of descriptive sex in this book, which doesn't bother me, but wasn't something I was expecting in this type of book. And there were some gory descriptions of war as well. So you have been warned if you don't care for these types of things.

Not that historically accurate, flat characters, and just in general a read I wouldn't recommend, this book is one that makes me think I'll pass on any others by Lederer.

Tecumseh
Copyright 1982
298 pages

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