First off, George Armstrong Custer has never been someone I particularly admired, or felt that much need to learn about. But when I noticed that Edward Longacre, probably the leading expert on cavalry in the U.S. Civil War had a book out on Custer's service during the late unpleasantness of the 1860s, I felt that I'd get an accurate assessment of the man. So, the big dichotomy here is how a man who apparently made a mission of skating through West Point with as little effort as possible, turned into such a determined careerist once he was actually on active service. Longacre really doesn't have a great answer to that, except to note that he doesn't find Custer to be an especially complicated individual, as opposed to being a bundle of contradictions. Perhaps the answer is that when actual responsibility was thrust upon Custer he realized that he had to live up to the moment and, in an army dominated by men past their prime, raw drive and energy counted for a lot. ( )