THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, September 1, 1996             TAG: 9609030213
SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J2   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY EDWARD COLIMORE, KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
                                            LENGTH:   27 lines

GEORGE AMSTRONG CUSTER TWO NEW BIOGRAPHIES SHOW THE SCOPE OF THE SOLDIER'S LEGEND - AND HOW MUCH OF THAT LEGEND HAS BEEN WRITTEN OVER BY MORE RECENT INTERPRETATIONS OF HIS EXPLOITS.

TOUCHED BY FIRE

The Life, Death, and Mythic Afterlife of George Armstrong Custer

LOUISE BARNETT

Henry Holt. 540 pp. $30.

CUSTER

The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer

JEFFRY D. WERT

Simon & Schuster. 464 pp. $27.50.

[These reviews are not available electronically. For complete text, please see microfilm.] by CNB