<DIV>Had Tom Custer not been overshadowed by his famous brother, he might have become one of the more notable characters and military officers in the American West. Despite two Medals of Honor, his legendary feud with Rain-in-the-Face, and the shooting scrape with James Butler Wild Bill" Hickok in Hays City, Tom has taken a back seat to George in the minds of readers and historians until now.<p> In his detailed account The Better Brother: Tom and George Custer and the Battle for the American West, author Roy Bird takes us inside the relationship of two brothers whose intense rivalry in hunting, military skills, business, and even romance would span from their boyhood farm to their heroic end at the Little Bighorn, where they were, as always, together.</DIV>"</div>