A conversation with Robert M. Utley Q: Why Geronimo? A: Geronimo is the best-known North American Indian of all time. His name continues to resonate with the public even though he was a lesser leader than most other Indian leaders. A major biography has not appeared since 1976, and I wanted to do for Geronimo what I did for Sitting Bull: discover the real person within his own culture. Q: How does this compare to your biography of Sitting Bull, The Lance and the Shield ? A: Sitting Bull was less challenging because of ample documentation, and I believe the real person does emerge. It remains my best of sixteen books unless eclipsed by Geronimo . I think I captured the real Geronimo, but the public will decide. Q: What made Geronimo tick? A: Many influences made Geronimo tick, not least his culture, which was not only spiritual but also centered on a raid-and-war lifestyle.

In the latter he strove to become the greatest but never succeeded. After Geronimo surrendered and spent twenty-three years as a prisoner of war, other influences made him tick into a different person-a celebrity in the white man's world. In this he excelled. Q: What was the most moving thing you learned in researching Geronimo's life? A: The most moving, or surprising, revelation was that in Geronimo's last two years of freedom, his mastery of Mexican geography allowed him to elude his pursuers so constantly that his greatest achievement in war was in avoiding war. Praise for Robert M. Utley's The Lance and the Shield : "Gripping. Mr. Utley transforms Sitting Bull, the abstract, romanticized icon and symbol, into a flesh-and-blood person with a down-to-earth story.

The Lance and the Shield clears the screen of the exaggerations and fantasies long directed at the name of Sitting Bull."- New York Times Book Review.