Author and historian Michael Elliott discusses his new book Custerology: The Enduring Legacy of the Indian Wars and George Armstrong Custer on Wednesday, January 14, at 6:30 p.m. at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.

On a hot summer day in 1876, George Armstrong Custer led the Seventh Cavalry to the most famous defeat in U.S. military history. Outnumbered and exhausted, the Seventh Cavalry lost more than half of its 400 men, and every soldier under Custer’s direct command was killed.

In Custerology, Elliott goes beyond the facts of the battle and an explanation of why the tremendous defeat shocked the American public to tackle the much more complicated question of why the battle still haunts the American imagination. Elliott mixes historical accounts of the battle and Custer’s life with contemporary commemorations that range from battle reenactments to the unfinished Crazy Horse memorial.

Copies of Custerology: The Enduring Legacy of the Indian Wars and George Armstrong Custer will be available for sale, and Elliott will sign copies purchased during the event.