Review of \u3ci\u3eElizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth\u3c/i\u3e By Shirley A. Leckie

Throughout the book\u27s detailed accounts of the campaigns, career, and posthumous reputation of George Armstrong Custer, Elizabeth Custer virtually disappears. At other times Leckie presents glimpses of Custer\u27s life beyond her role of wife and professional widow that would, if explored in more detail, enrich the study considerably. A broader analysis throughout the chronological narrative-with the inclusion of a greater portion of recent work on the complexity of gender roles in the nineteenth century, the relationship of women to war and the military, women\u27s paid work roles, the women\u27s club movement, women as writers and readers, and the relationship between elite white women and women of color-would have added to the book\u27s contributions. Yet the biography does muster a great deal of important information on Elizabeth Bacon Custer\u27s life and her role in the making of the Custer myth that historians will find useful and compelling