Admittedly, reconstructing the fine details of Blue Jacket's life requires a great deal of conjecture neither his birth nor death was recorded. Rather, he offers a careful re-reading of existing sources to place Blue Jacket at or near the center of Indian-Indian and Indian-white interactions over a 35-year span. Sugden's book sets out to correct the oversight, and it succeeds. Sugden has penned an enthralling milestone-marking volume sprinkled with tribal history, endless anecdotes, military accounts and Native perspectives that should be inspiring material for thoughtful readers of all persuasions.' The Tennessean 'For more than two hundred years the Shawnee leader Blue Jacket has been either a sidelight or a footnote to many histories of the Old Northwest. This biography is a great contribution to Native American history in general and to Indian profiles in particular. Sugden weaves a panoramic view of the war leader's life in the framework of his diplomatic abilities. Highly recommended.' Library Journal 'Sugden corrects the cultural arrogance that has mistakenly portrayed Blue Jacket, a Shawnee warrior and diplomat, as a white captive, thereby recasting his role in the confederation of Indian tribes that fought in 1780s to hold on to territory in what is now the Ohio River valley.' Booklist 'This exciting volume chronicles the life of one of the most important, but largely overlooked, American Indian leaders of the 18th century. He also mentored Tecumseh and influenced many of the ideas that would eventually be put into action by Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa, also known as the Shawnee Prophet.

Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. 'Dispelling the notion that Blue Jacket was a white pawn, Sugden shows that he was in reality the leader of a Native American confederacy that scored great victories against the United States until his ultimate defeat by Maj.

Blue Jacket by John Sugden