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CUSTER AND THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA, by Thom Hatch (McFarland and Co. Inc., 229 pages, $45.00).

The goal of this comprehensive, one-volume encyclopedia is to provide a definitive reference source for all things connected to the life, career, and legacy of George Armstrong Custer (see page 22). Organized alphabetically, its topics range from “‘A’ Company, Seventh Cavalry” to “Yellowstone Expedition of 1873,” with references to Plains Indians’ culture as well as information about soldiers, Custer’s military campaigns, Indian and cavalry equipment and weapons, and frontier terminology. Other entries address the hundreds of books and movies that have amplified the legend spawned by Custer’s spectacular demise. Fourteen maps and more than three dozen photographs illustrate the book, which closes with a chronology of Custer’s Civil War career and an extensive index.