“It was the Battle of the Somme—or what the Germans, who suffered massive casualties as well, referred to in letters home as “the bath of blood.” On the first day of the offensive, nearly twenty thousand British soldiers died and… — David Grann Copy Share
“It was the greatest loss of life in the history of the British military, and many in the West began to portray the “savage” as European rather than as some native in the jungle.” — David Grann Copy Share Image
“To believe that the Osages survived intact from their ordeal is a delusion of the mind. What has been possible to salvage has been… — David Grann Copy Share Image
“Over the next two decades, the Osage were forced to cede nearly a hundred million acres of their ancestral land, ultimately finding refuge in… — David Grann Copy Share Image
“Only in the mid-nineteenth century, after the growth of industrial cities and a rash of urban riots—after dread of the so-called dangerous classes surpassed… — David Grann Copy Share Image
“Emmett White became a firm, even unyielding, sheriff. Still, he showed remarkable consideration toward the people in his custody and insisted on making arrests without brandishing his six-shooter. He did not philosophize about the law or his responsibilities, but Tom noticed that he always maintained the same manner, no matter whether the prisoners were black or white or Mexican. At… — David Grann Copy Share
My mother doesn't need much sleep. At any hour of the night, you'd wake up, and she'd be reading. She'd read five, six books… — David Grann Copy Share Image
The way we live history is not the way historians tell history. Our lives are messy and chaotic and bewildering. — David Grann Copy Share Image
“Fawcett, who had always found refuge in the natural world, no longer recognized the wilderness of bombed-out villages, denuded trees, craters, and sunbaked skeletons.… — David Grann Copy Share Image
“Does God think that, because it is raining, I am not going to destroy the world? - Lope de Aguirre after going mad in the Amazon” — David Grann Copy Share
“In 1804, a delegation of Osage chiefs met with Jefferson at the White House. He told the navy secretary that the Osage, whose warriors typically stood well over six feet tall, were the “finest men we have ever seen.” At the meeting, Jefferson addressed the chiefs as “my children” and said, “It is so long since our forefathers came from… — David Grann Copy Share
“Instead, the terrain looked like Nebraska—perpetual plains that faded into the horizon. When I asked Taukane where the forest was, he said, simply, “Gone.” — David Grann Copy Share Image
