Mary Butler Renville (1830–1895) and John Baptiste Renville (1831–1903) dedicated their lives to education and mission work among the Dakotas. Carrie Reber Zeman is an independent historian specializing in the context and historiography of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. Kathryn Zabelle Derounian-Stodola is a professor of English emerita at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the author of The War in Words: Reading the Dakota Conflict through the Captivity Literature (Nebraska, 2009). Dakota scholar Gwen N. Westerman is a professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and coauthor of Mni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota, winner of the Hognander Minnesota History Award.
“[The editors] have provided splendid introductions and meticulous and helpful annotations that allow readers to appreciate the importance of this account. Zeman’s historical introduction is a scholarly tour de force that reflects an impressive knowledge of the relevant sources and also a good sense of what is significant. . . . It is a complex story that is here well told and convincing. . . . It is an outstanding work.”—Raymond DeMallie, editor of The Sixth Grandfather: Black Elk’s Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt “This is an impressive and extremely important contribution to our understanding of the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War. . . . Mary Renville’s account, enriched by her husband John’s presence at a number of council meetings, offers a perspective that qualitatively differs from other captivity narratives.”—Mary Wingerd, author of North Country: The Making of Minnesota “A fantastically detailed annotation of the narrative, explaining the political, economic, and kinship connections between Dakota and non-Dakota figures alike and explaining the identities and histories of even the most glancingly mentioned individuals in the text. Taken together, the introductions, annotations, and foreword by Gwen Westerman transform Mary Renville’s captivity narrative from an apparently ‘simple’ statement of experience into a deeply contextualized historical documents.”—Catherine J. Denial, Minnesota History "[A Thrilling Narrative of Indian Captivity] is an essential primary and secondary source for historians interested in the years leading up to, and through, the Dakota War of 1862. Literary critics specializing in captivity narratives will also find much of value in the reprint of this obscure text."—Linda Clemmons, South Dakota History “An ambitious, multifaceted volume that plunges us deep into the complexities of the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War, and more specifically, into the intratribal conflicts that erupted in the wake of colonization and dispossession.”—Colette Hyman, H-Net "This fascinating edition should help scholars to better understand the complexities of race, gender, and compassion through the voices of those who struggled with them in their own lives."—Michael Knock, Annals of Iowa “It is wonderfully written, an exemplary contribution to the literature of the Dakota War, a model of academic inquiry and deep understanding grounded in primary sources. . . . [It] is also a document of a remarkable partnership”—Scott W. Berg, Minnesota’s Heritage "Anyone looking to further their understanding of the culture and trials of this turbulent time in America's history can't do better than this excellent book."—Monsters and Critics
