Crofton's fire

the long version

"In 1876, a green lieutenant named Crofton barely escapes Little Big Horn-where before his startled eyes, Custer is killed by his own enraged men-only to find that his own adventures have just begun. Over the next three years, curiosity, fate, and the schemes of others will take Crofton halfway around the world, from a "whore's war" in Kansas to a rebellion in Cuba to the horrors of the Zulu war in East Africa. Along the way, he will encounter such figures as Grant, Sherman, and Hayes; get shot; find love; endure betrayal-and somehow, through the crucible of blood and fire, arrive at something that might be called wisdom. It is a constantly surprising story, by turns humorous and harrowing, filled with lean, sharp writing, vivid characters, and unexpected twists-that rarest of all things: a true discovery. It is a book you will want to read-and recommend."--Jacket.