A Fever in the Heartland is the third book I’ve read by Timothy Egan. In The Immortal Irishman, he told the fascinating story of Thomas Meager, an Irish revolutionary turned general in the American Civil War. In Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, he told the equally fascinating story of Edward Curtis, a photographer who spent decades compiling a pictorial record of the continent’s indigenous peoples. His latest work is very different, and though it is an important and sadly relevant story, “fascinating” is probably […]

Shortly after taking up photography during a long convalescence, Edward S. Curtis of Seattle established himself as that city’s premier portrait taker. All the best families in the area wanted a Curtis family photograph, and he easily could have spent the rest of his days in ease and wealth. But the germ of an idea took root in Curtis’s mind and would not let him rest. After taking a picture of the city’s last Native resident, the so-called “Princess Angeline,” granddaughter of Chief Seattle, Curtis […]