Such a twisted, terrible time in history. Very dense information and backstories, but redeemed by the attempt at creating a careful and caring chronicle for the Osage.

Told in three parts, this horrific historical account of the murder of the Osage during the ‘reign of terror’ showcase the greed, corruption and soullessness of the white male privilege that birthed and shaped this land.

Not his best work...

Probably closer to a 2.5 but extremely dry and difficult to read for me and I love both previous works of Grann and true crime stuff. I don't know what it was, but this was just missing the spark.

The book is broken up into three chronicles: ONE is the history of the Osage people up to the beginning of the murders. TWO is the (F)BI's investigation and outcome. THREE is the what has happened to the Osage since then with much of it being told from the author's point-of-view researching all of this. The audiobook had a different reader for each of the sections, and they were all fine. I found that I only really enjoyed Chronicle TWO; the others were interesting but not where the meat of the story lie and not really anything to do with the (F)BI's investigation.

It is very informative. I was kind of shocked to realize how recent old history is. The fathers of the main protagonists were hunting buffalo while the story is partly about the birth of FBI. Like wild west jumps to modern day. The treatment of American Indians was also eye opening since these stories do not reach eastern Europe schools.

I heard of this book due to the new movie coming out but had admittedly never heard of this story. If you are also unfamiliar, it involves the killing of Indigenous Americans in the Osage tribe in Oklahoma during the 1920’s. Many of them end up dead, either clearly by homicide or under mysterious circumstances, and the newly formed FBI ends up on the case. This book is not in narrative form - it very much reads like a news article (and it is authored by a reporter) but I found it gripping nonetheless. It’s quite tragic what happened to the Osage and it’s terrible to see how it’s affected so many generations after. Well-researched and painstakingly sited with primary sources, this is the premier account of this tragic time.

They should make this into a movie!

Grann shares a story erased by history in such a way that I feel as though I am reading a suspense novel rather than a nonfiction account of history. This story is captivating and it is important. I have yet to meet someone who was disappointed by this book.