He was the only Native American chief to defeat the United States Army in a war. A renowned and respected leader in the vicious, bloody clashes for control over land in the Great Plains of the American West, his name came to represent the conflict itself: Red Cloud's War. The fog of history has left Red Cloud strangely obscured, despite his staggering achievements. He was born in 1821 and advanced in Sioux culture as a warrior and leader through fearless raids against neighboring tribes, preparing him for the epic struggle his nation would face with an expanding United States. This is a story as big as the West, including portraits of General William Tecumseh Sherman, explorer John Bozeman, mountain man Jim Bridger, Red Cloud protégé Crazy Horse, and many others. It is a story about the birth of America as we know it today. Drawing on a wealth of evidence that includes Red Cloud's 134-page autobiography, lost for nearly a hundred years, award-winning authors Bob Drury and Tom Clavin bring their subject to life again in a gripping narrative that places you at the center of the conflict over western expansion. Red Cloud finally gives the nation s greatest war leader and Native American legend the modern-day recognition he deserves.