Killers of the Flower Moon Book Review

Today we will be reviewing the nonfiction book Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann. It is a true story about the murders of the member Osage Tribe in the early 1900s. Keep reading to find out if you should add this book to your reading list!

Killers of the Flower Moon Summary

The Osage Nation was forced to relocate to Oklahoma and start over. They bought land and settled down, hoping they wouldn’t be forced to move again. But when the Osage discovered oil on the land a few years later, they suddenly became rich overnight.

Now, the Osage were the richest people per capita in the world thanks to the oil. The Osage bought expensive clothes and chauffeured automobiles, bought mansions, and send their children to study overseas. But the newfound wealthy attracted tons of coverage and many people traveled to Oklahoma, hoping to become rich also by any means.

Members of the Osage nation were being murdered for their headrights. And one woman who became a target was Mollie Burkhart and her family. Her relatives were dying in mysterious circumstances and nobody knew who was doing the killings.

The Osage made pleas for the U.S. government to step in and investigate the murders. Finally, a young J. Edgar Hoover sent former Texas Ranger named Tom White to investigate the murders. And he soon discovered a conspiracy that would shake the members of the Osage Nation.

Forgotten History

I discovered this book after hearing about the movie and looking up what the movie was based on. And like everyone else, this was the first time I was hearing about the Osage tribe and the murders that took place in Oklahoma. The fact that this was such a major event that was covered nationally, it is amazing that it has been left out of most American history books.

And that is obviously intentional. A bill passed in Oklahoma in 2021 regulated classroom discussions surrounding race and gender. After the bill was passed, a teacher in Oklahoma cancelled her lesson that involved the book. Movies like this are important because while politicians can censor stuff like this classrooms, they do have limited power if it doesn’t always feel like it.

Grann spoke out against the bill in an op-ed in the New York Times after the release of the movie. Seeing Grann take a stand against the bill is a great sight. Years after the book has been published, he hasn’t forgotten about the Osake Nation

My Thoughts on the Book

The first thing I thought about was how accurate the movie was to the book while I was reading it. Many movies will dramatically change an adaptation to make it more appealing to audiences. But this book and historical event is that crazy that you don’t have to. This all feels like a movie and Martin Scorsese does an amazing job keeping it accurate.

David Grann is an amazing storyteller and when you read the book, you realize how different the storytelling is from the movie. In the book, we aren’t told who the people behind the killing are, unlike the movie. In the movie, the focus is on the criminals and I feel like it does a disservice to the victims and the Osage tribe.

But that is a different medium than a book and I get it. A movie has to keep people’s attention whereas the book focuses more on the Osage tribe and the victims of the massacre. The book also dives deeper into the other victims besides Mollie and her relatives. Grann revisits many unsolved cases and tries to figure out who were the murderers behind those attacks.  

Conclusion

While I am not the biggest fan on nonfiction books, I do enjoy learning about history and events like these. This massacre of the people of the Osage tribe should be taught in classes. The movie has people revisiting this tragic event and learning about this dark time in our history.

Grann’s book is a must read for anyone that loves history and journalism. Our generation has relearned about this tragedy and let’s hope that this isn’t something that is forgotten again. Books like these make sure that we don’t forget even if politicians want us to. This is a must read even if you don’t often read nonfiction books. Happy reading!

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