Black Hawk: Life of Black Hawk, or Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak Dictated by Himself is the reissued Penguin Classics edition of the 1833 publication, Life of Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak or Black Hawk, dictated by himself. Editor and historian J. Gerald Kennedy offers an introduction and notes to this reissue of the life and times of Sauk leader Black Hawk as translated by Antoine LeClaire and first published by John B. Patterson. Black Hawk (1757-1838) tells the story of his life in Illinois, participation of the Sauk in the War of 1812 as allies of the British, defending his Nation's land against encroachment, and his final surrender to the Americans and incarceration. Following his tour of eastern United States and meeting with the President, Black Hawk returned to the Midwest, dictated his personal narrative and died in Iowa in 1838. His commentary is a harsh indictment of the American greed and mistreatment of Native Americans. He also makes a comment on the American issue of slavery and proposes a radical plan to solve America's problem with the Negroes. The introductory essay sets the historical context for this remarkable autobiography and the author notes that the 1833 original publication is reissued with only minor typos corrected. His essay is useful except for the annoying use of the term braves throughout.