The Rifles (Paperback)

From the Publisher: In the sixth volume of his "Seven Dreams" series, which is a chronicle of the conflicts between North American Indians and Europeans, Vollmann connects the events of Sir John Franklin's efforts to find a Northwest passage with life as it is lived by the Inuit tribe 150 years later--Elders dreaming of long-gone seal hunting days, teenagers sniffing gasoline. A white man seduces and leaves pregnant a young Indian woman as he gradually finds himself pushing toward the same fate as Franklin, even claiming to be Franklin reincarnated. Vollmannn weaves together the stories of the past and present to live out America's ongoing tragedy of greed, ignorance, and violence.The latest installment of Vollmann's seven-part epic chronicling the clash of Europeans and Native Americans in the New World. Volume six focuses on the white explorers of the mid-1800s, desperately dreaming of forging a Northwest passage.