Cozzens's engaging prose, meticulous research, and deep empathy for his subjects make this book essential reading for anyone deeply invested in early American history, but may be dense for getting a handle on the complexities of Native American-white relations and the struggle for justice and sovereignty in early America.

See review here:
http://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/index.php/bookreview/tecumseh-and-the-prophet-the-shawnee-brothers-who-defied-a-nation

LIves of Tecumseh and his brother revealed in new biography

Historian Peter Cozzens, author of "Tecumseh and the Prophet: The Shawnee Brothers Who Defied a Nation," not only has written the first biography in more than 20 years of Tecumseh, the great Shawnee leader who was admired even by those who wanted to destroy him, but he also dispels, through solid research, the misrepresentation of Tecumseh's brother, Tenskwatawa, also known as the Prophet, in a book scheduled to be released Oct. 27.

The heroic Tecumseh was a great warrior and war leader who in his portrait looks strong, valiant, and handsome. Tenskwatawa, his younger brother, as his portrait shows, had none of those physical attributes and history recalls him as a charlatan, a drunk and, let’s face it, a loser.

Tenskwatawa was an alcoholic, but gave up drinking, and despite all the travails of his later life, never indulged in drowning out his many sorrows again.

“I was surprised to discover, after reading contemporaneous accounts, that the Prophet’s influence was prodigious. He was able to build an alliance with many of the tribes of the Old Northwest,” said Cozzens, the author or editor of 16 books on the American Civil War and the wars of the American West.

When visiting Prophetstown State Park near Lafayette and seeing the landscape where the Prophet and Tecumseh strived, beginning in 1808, to build a community centered around the strength of banding together, Native American traditions and a cultural revitalization, it’s difficult not to be overcome with sadness knowing what happened to their dream. The same is true in Cozzens well-written book.

Ultimately, Prophetstown was destroyed by American troops led by General William Henry Harrison, who would go on to become the ninth president of the United States. Tecumseh would die in battle in 1813, and the Prophet would end up impoverished and forgotten.

“Writing the book was extremely emotional,” said Cozzens, who served as a captain in the U.S. Army, where his focus was on military intelligence, before spending 30 years as a foreign service officer in the U.S. Department of State. “I had a roller coaster of emotions. The most moving part for me was writing about Tenskwatawa at the end. I felt myself in that wigwam, the cold wind blowing across the plain and knowing that this guy who had been one of the greatest prophets lived out his days like this.”

Cozzens, who stumbled across a document recounting the Prophet’s final days in what would become Kansas, visited the place where he lived, discovering a few last vestiges connecting to his past.

“It’s now a run-down neighborhood in Kansas. It was in a ravine; the original spring is still there,” he said.
The Prophet died in 1837 and for almost 200 years has been looked upon as a failure.

“He stayed sober for the rest of his life,” Cozzens said. “He was an equal partner with his brother; they had a symbiotic relationship. I think they came remarkably close to changing history.”

For your information
Peter Cozzens Virtual Event
What: Daniel Weinberg, owner of the Abraham Lincoln Bookshop, talks with Peter Cozzens about his latest book, Tecumseh, and the Prophet. The program streams live on Facebook.
Live stream: 3:30 p.m. Oct 27, 2020
Connect: www.facebook.com/AbrahamLincolnBookShop/

Peter Cozzens spares no relevant detail in tracing the history of Tecumseh, the Prophet and the Confederacy they built – but while doing so, he sacrifices nothing in the way or narrative.

Before the American West was the Great Plains or the Southwest, it was the Northwest Territory. Before Sitting Bull and Geronimo became embedded in our minds as the emblematic symbols of Native American resistance to giving up their traditional way of life and land, there was Tecumseh and the Prophet. These two Shawnee brothers and the confederacy which they spearheaded to resist American expansion north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi was such that at their height “they mustered twice as many warriors as Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse would three generations later at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.” Cozzens’ work has masterfully brought this story and these brothers back into focus.

How did a capable but minor Shawnee village chief rise to lead thousands of warriors? How did an alcoholic who wounded his eye with an own arrow become a prophet heard throughout the Midwest and into the South? What were the tribal dynamics that allowed two Shawnee brothers who couldn’t win over the bulk of their own tribe to become leaders of a pan-Indian confederacy? Why has Tecumseh become the more renowned brother when contemporaries first noticed the Prophet? How did it come to pass that Tecumseh died near the height of the Confederacy’s power, while the Prophet lived on to encourage removal to a reservation – where he’d die in obscurity? Cozzens delves into all of these questions and more.

This work excels in a host of ways, but I most appreciated the author’s ability to establish context and complexity without becoming tangential or dry. History does not emerge out of a vacuum. The culture, religion, life, tribal customs and past of the Shawnee and other Natives are presented to the reader to help comprehend what the brothers were fighting to preserve – but also how bold and innovative their methods were. It also sets Tecumseh’s Confederacy and the Prophets spiritual revival in continuity with those who came before them or influenced them directly – Pontiac, the Confederacy of Little Turtle and Blue Jacket, the time spent among the Chickamauga Cherokee. Cozzens also doesn’t neglect the complex and shifting relationships which occurred within and among the tribes, which made Tecumseh’s successes more astounding and his ultimate failure at what ought to have been his height more dramatic.

Good history of Tecumseh and his brother by noted historian Peter Cozzens. Learned some things I didn't know about these important leaders up to and during the War of 1812.

This book is a dual biography of Tecumseh and his lesser known brother Tenskwatawa who is also know as The Prophet. The book is well researched and written making it an interesting read.  The primary focus on is on the brother's attempts to slow down and repel american expansion into northwestern Ohio during the late 1700's and early 1800's. They were not successful with one dying on the battlefield and the other dying poor and alone. This is the first book, to my knowledge, that gives equal attention to both brothers. Others that I have read have focused on Tecumseh giving passing attention to his brother and the role that he played in their struggle to preserve the Shawnee nation's land. This is a good book for those who have not read much on the brothers or their struggle to preserve their heritage.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.