America's mythical characters generally have their roots in the Wild West. Few achieved the fame of George Armstrong Custer, the general of the Seventh Cavalry who lost his life, along with 257 of the 'Fighting Seventh', battling Sioux Indians at the Little Bighorn in 1876.

Down the years, Custer has become a Boy's Own hero, feted in comic books and pulp novels as a courageous leader who heroically stood fast to the last in the face of overwhelming numbers.

Meanwhile, commentators - and there have been many - have often painted him as a reckless glory hunter who endangered the lives of his men in the pursuit of fame. This book by James Donovan, a long-time Custer historian, rifles through all the available information to set the record straight about the man and his final battle.

The good parts of A Terrible Glory tell a rip-roaring story of derring-do, the veracity of which is backed up by copious footnotes and cross references. But the book is actually more of a detailed account of the military campaigns that led to the battle and a blow-by-blow account of the battle itself than a biography.

The action is told in a fiery and passionate manner, zooming in on the details of individual fighters and then zooming out to explain the big picture. These sequences make for riveting reading.

The rest of the book - which explains the preceding military and political shenanigans - can be difficult to follow, although those who know this strand of American history will have no trouble keeping up.

The Little Bighorn is an important part of the mythology of the Wild West. During the latter part of the 19th century, settlers in the United States were expanding west: it was the time of wagon trains, cowboys and Indians. This provoked an Indian rebellion led by two famous chiefs, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. The ensuing battle at the Little Bighorn was the first big military victory by the Indians, who were until then regarded by the government and the army as disorganised savages. It destroyed the image of the lauded Seventh Cavalry and saw the death of Custer, one of America's most skilled Indian fighters and a heroic civil war cavalryman. But Custer's last stand was also the Indians' last stand. The defeat forced the government to give more power to the army, who quickly defeated the natives.

Donovan uses military history, court records, newspapers and forensic evidence to discover what really happened at Little Bighorn. Custer comes out of it all quite well.

The general was a skilled soldier whose men loved him so much they adopted his flamboyant mode of dress: long flowing locks, a big straw hat and an open-necked shirt. He was a bona fide military hero who carried out some brave and effective strategies against the Confederates in the civil war. He was also known for sizing up a situation quickly, then taking immediate action - and it was this positive quality, says Donovan, which allowed the military to describe him as reckless when it needed a scapegoat for the humiliating reverse.

The battle of the Little Bighorn shouldn't even have started because there was no clear military plan. But after Custer had waded in, adds Donovan, it was probably the cavalry reserves who were at fault. They were ineffectively led and too slow to realise the battle was taking place. The description of the battle is engrossing and Donovan has no problem in moving from the micro to the macro, which makes for a cinematic read.

A Terrible Glory is also even-handed towards the Indians and Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse are skilfully portrayed.

It can hardly be denied that they were robbed of their lands and forced onto reservations; as Donovan puts it, they were fighting for their way of life.