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Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation | 
| Author: John Ehle
Publisher: Anchor Books Doubleday
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy Used: $1.05
You Save: $14.90 (93%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 90383
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 1
ISBN: 0385239548
Dewey Decimal Number: 975.00497
EAN: 9780385239547
ASIN: 0385239548
Publication Date: September 22, 1997
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Product Description
The fascinating portrayal of the Cherokee nation,filled with Native American legend, lore, and religion -- agripping American drama of power, politics,betrayal, and ambition.
B & W photographs
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| Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...
 Unevenly written but an enjoyable read July 24, 2007
Ehle's writing style can be entertaining, but is also uneven and at times downright confusing. The strengths are his telling of the Major Ridge story, which is really what this book is about, i.e. The life of Major Ridge and his son, John Ridge, and nephews, Elias Boudinot and Stand Watie. This was the first book I had read about the events leading up to the Trail of Tears, and I came away with the distinct impression that Ridge was a tragic hero who was treacherously murdered by the anti-treaty party of John Ross. Ross is portrayed as basically an inept leader who spends his life on a wild-goose chase to hold on to the Eastern Cherokee lands.
Imagine my surprise when I did some more research and learned that that is not at all how the Cherokee view these two men. On the contrary, Ross is seen as the hero and Ridge as a traitor, and in hindsight I see why that is.
Read this book for some info into the life of Major Ridge, but to find out how the Cherokee see the Trail of Tears, read something else.
 Not all shame belongs to the white man July 9, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
No one can doubt that the Native Americans were robbed of their land and wealth in the white mans rapid expansion and desire for land. What this book brings to light are the other culprits in this tragedy. It is difficult to picture a leader of the Cherokee people being a lobbyist in Washington while securing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of contracts for him self, family and friends. This is a story of two migrations of the Cherokee people to the new Indian Territory one with little or no suffering along the way and the other the Trail of Tears.
trail of tears June 13, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The book was great. It had all the information I needed.
 Counterpoint to the whitewash October 19, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Darwin might suggest that the exodus of the Cherokees from their native land to new territories was an example of a uniquely human ability to decide to survive. To remain in areas near an invading population with superior technology and ever growing numbers could easily result in annihilation. History had already proven this could be the case. What makes the Trail of Tears a segment of history that every American should be aware of is the uniquely inhuman reasons why the Indians were faced with a decision at all.
The book takes a cursory tour of history up to the time of the Trail of Tears then makes a more illustrative turn as it settles into describing the rift created within the Cherokee tribe surrounding their dilemma. John Ross and his followers preferred to stay, while Major Ridge and his son organized to leave.
This rift set in motion a number of well described events that not only tore the tribe apart in waves that echo to this day, it laid waste to many lives and much property along the way. Although the book starts with a plodding pace, it gradually builds into a complex weave of politics and a tragic drama.
The Trail of Tears certainly leaves one to question why are so proud of Andrew Jackson that he must be printed on every $20 bill and why we insist on calling the football team from Washington the "Redskins". We should recognize a derogatory attitude for what it is and have more respect for a civilization that held the original title to this land.
 Woefully inomplete and biased September 28, 2006
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
The "Rise" of the Cherokee nation is nowhere to be found in this book. In fact the "Fall" is well underway before chapter one, and continues to this day with the publication of tripe like this.
Any fair depiction of a clash of cultures needs to see each culture in it's context. Ehle doesn't seem to attempt this. His descriptions of Cherokee and settler life make no attempt to relate to their specific histories, but merely poke at them with a judgemental 20th century stick.
Two stars are simply because he has thrown out many names that anyone with a serious interest in the subject can use as tools for research.
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