The rise and fall of North American Indians : from prehistory through Geronimo / William Brandon.

"A Roberts Rinehart Book."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 491-574) and index.

1. The Dawntime -- 2. In the Footsteps of the Ancients -- 3. Art and Numbers -- 4. Under the Wheel of Time -- 5. Turmoil and Temples in Central Mexico -- 6. From the Toltecs to the Incas -- 7. Empires of the Sun -- 8. When Worlds Collide -- 9. Through the Lookinglass I -- 10. March of the Metal Men -- 11. The Plumed Serpent -- 12. Cornfield and Kiva -- 13. Blood, Gold, and Souls -- 14. Through the Lookinglass II -- 15. Serpent Mound to Tattooed Serpent -- 16. People of the Forest -- 17. Puritans and Indians -- 18. European Cannon Meet Longhouse Diplomacy -- 19. Muskets across the Mountains -- 20. The Road Not Taken -- 21. Along the Trail of Tears -- 22. A Man for All "Seasons -- 23. Death and Dispossession in the Heartland -- 24. Through the Lookinglass III -- 25. Under the Northern Lights -- 26. Golden Hills, Crimson Blood -- 27. From Sacajawea to Chief Joseph -- 28. Buffalo Indians and Pony Soldiers -- 29. The Last Stronghold -- 30. Through the Lookinglass IV.

"This account draws on many disciplines to trace the intricate history of New World peoples from their Stone Age beginnings through their most exalted civilizations and subsequent defeat and degradation while teasing out the complicated influences they have had on the world we live in today. William Brandon tells the stories of Moctezuma and Tezozomoc, Sacajawea and Sequoia, Andrew Jackson and George Armstrong Custer, placing particular emphasis on the grisly tale of Indian-white relations in what eventually became the United States. In so doing he inspires the question of who is savage and who is civilized." "Tribes chronicled include the art-obsessed Mayans and Olmecs; the conquering Aztecs; the architecturally-inclined Toltecs; and others such as the Ojibwa, Powhatan, Cree, Illinois, Wampanoag, Apache, Cherokee, Natchez, and Sioux. The Rise and Fall of North American Indians is the definitive history of the development and culture of the native peoples of North America, from their incipience through the late nineteenth century."--BOOK JACKET.

first published in 2013. this paperback edition in 2003.