Little has been written about the [Cheyenne Indians who defiantly journeyed from their reservation to their former homes in the Montana Territory, but in "The Last Frontier"] Howard Fast puts the story into a compact, restrained, ruthlessly pruned and tremendously dramatic novel. Even the bare records must have made a moving story, jumbled and confused as they doubtless were. As Mr. Fast has disentangled and rewoven them the tale becomes a triumph of the historical novelist's art.

Two points about "The Last Frontier" deserve special mention.

One is the exceptionally successful development of the people of the story….

The other point is the underlying significance of the author's treatment of the theme he has selected.

Mr. Fast, of course, is well aware of the importance, today particularly, of the novel in which the ideal of freedom is put forward from a fresh angle. "The Last Frontier," when all's...