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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fantastic book; a truly exciting read, September 17, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Bat Masterson (Paperback)
DeArment's "Bat Masterson" is a fantastic book if you're looking for an exciting account of this famous western lawman, gambler and journalist. While debunking the myth of Masterson as a killer, the author weaves a well researched and exciting tale of Bat Masterson, the crack shot, utterly fearless and justifiably famous Western lawman. Although the book is somewhat scholarly in its approach in the sense that it is well researched, it nevertheless reads like a fast-paced novel. DeArment traces Bat's life from his days as a buffalo hunter as a young man through his career as a lawman during which he served in various law enforcement posts including elected sheriff of Ford County, Kansas, city marshal of Dodge City and deputy United States marshal. Dearment also does an excellent job of illustrating the sometimes fine line between the lawmen and the criminal element in the Old West. If you're a fan of the Old West gunfighter genre it is particularly interesting to compare the various accounts of a single incident as explained by multiple authors such as the excellent account of Wyatt Earp's escapades written by Tefertiller. Even Bat's later career as a sports journalist is fascinating as presented by Dearment. You've got to love this book if you want an exciting "you are there" approach to the fascination of free-wheeling Dodge City and the other frontier towns frequented by Bat Masterson. Thanks are in order for Mr. DeArment from any Old West gunfighter afficionado.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well Written, Well Researched., February 14, 2001
This review is from: Bat Masterson (Paperback)
Undoubtedly a standard bearer for all future biographies concerning Bat Masterson. So much credit must go to the author for his literary style, thorough research, and daring, in his portrayal of this man and his times. At the very beginning of this book, Robert K. Dearment states most clearly that "there is no hard evidence that Bat Masterson ever killed anyone". This statement may deter readers who are only interested in reading about the West's man-killers, and law officers who shot up plenty of bad-guys. But this would be a mistake. Bat lived in exciting times. He was corageous, daring, had many adventures, and plenty of controversy. As the author so correctly states: "The story of Bat Masterson requires no sensational embellishment. His was an exciting life..." He was certainly an able lawman, responsible for the capture of many outlaws, and should be credited for achieving this so regularly without the spilling of blood. Yet there were still many occasions when Bat called upon the use of his firearms; whether he was buffalo hunting, fending off Indians, acting in self defence, attempting to carry out a vengeful attack, or in his duty as a law officer. Interestingly, despite the lack of definte notches on his six-gun, Bat was regarded by his contemparies as an excellent shot, and certailnly this reputation struck fear into the hearts of his adversarys. Thanks to the research of this book, the reader understands that in times of crisis he was often admired for his part by his fellows; as in the case of the fascinating account at Adobe Walls, where Bat and just over twenty other men fended off hundreds of Indians. What really sets the story and life of Bat apart, is the association he had with so many other legends of the times. Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Ben and Billy Thompson, and Luke Short are among the obvious ones. But there were others whose lives were destined to entwine with Bat's, including Bill Tilghman, Mysterious Dave Mather, Dave Rudabaugh, Clay Allison and Jim Courtright. Bat Masterson was not a saint, nor was he a notorious man-killer. He was brave, loved adventure, enjoyed a joke, extremely loyal to his friends, but above all led an interesting life. Whether Bat Masterson deserves any more recognition than many other law officers is a matter of personal opinion, and to some extent, irrelevent. He certainly contributed.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE REAL MAN . . . ., January 8, 2007
This review is from: Bat Masterson (Paperback)
I bought this book in hardcover when it was first published back in 1979, having that same first edition copy on my shelves. Hadn't read the book in quite a few years and with Encore Westerns now re-running the "Bat Masterson" TV series of the late 1950s thought it time to once again to brush up on the 'real' William Barclay Masterson. While the TV series offers great intertainment it also offers very little solid history or biography. I have all of Mr. DeArment's books so coming to this book was nothing new to me, but the one thing that struck me during last evening's read was the amount of collateral information included in this book; it is not just a straight biography focused on Bat but included much surrounding information, for example, the founding of Fort Dodge with the later Dodge City becoming just Dodge. The rough, tough edge of the frontier men: some fair and square, others just vicious killers. Whether as DeArment states no evidence exists for Bat's killing anyone, many, many other men with whom he daily associated did kill with some killing more than once. And most famous names of those western times on both sides of the law, were personally well known to Bat Masterson, and he lived to tell about them and the times, too. It's good to see this book still being read by people not only interested in Bat Masterson but also the west in general. No better way to spend a few evenings than going over this book that is now close to a generation old; but as one reviewer here remarked, it is still the standard bearer for contemporary writings on Bat Masterson. Since I am an avid western reader, fiction and non-fiction, I have most of the newer biographies on Earp and Holiday, but for Masterson no newer book has appeared. Best to read this one if Bat Masterson is your man! Recommended. Semper Fi.
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