Customer Reviews

Bat Masterson

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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.

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.

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.

Mr. De Arment has done a fine job sifting through the facts and myths to give us the first accurate biography of Masterson ever. I have a sentimental regard for the Richard O'Connor bio, now out of date, but this is superior in its research and scholarship. If Mr. DeArment states a fact, he backs it up. If he draws a conclusion, it is always reasonable. The only complaint is that like many fine scholars, he is not as good a writer as he is a researcher. His style is not pedantic, but rather a bit folksy. But this is a quibble. This book is a must-have for the serious student of the West.

This is a well researched and written book about a western icon. Unlike many westerns, this one is a very interesting read - sharing not only the life of Bat Masterson but the gunfighters and others who lived around them and their experiences. For example, a whole chapter is on Jim Masterson and his experiences in southern Kansas and Colorado in the late nineteenth century. Although the book does an excellent job of covering Bat during his Dodge days and especially his two years as sheriff of the county and the "battle of the Plaza" afterwards, I especially liked the stories about his late years in Denver and New York, including his close calls with possible gunfights during that time. Yes, Bat Masterson did not kill 27 men, and only one is credited to him, but it is clear from this book, that the reason for this was that most people stayed clear of him because of the recognition of his prowess with a six gun. This book is not only a history of Bat Masterson but an excellent history of the gunfighters who crossed his path. Consequently, I highly recommend this for any individual interested in that period of US history.

Based on its title, one might expect this book to simply be another biography of Bat Masterson, but it is much more than that. I say that for several reasons. First, and foremost: It is thorough, comprehensive, and meticulously documented and, as a result, presents what can only be assumed to be a true picture of Bat Masterson, warts and all. Secondly, Masterson's career spanned almost the entire period of the wild western frontier --- starting with his time as a buffalo hunter in the 1870s, when buffalo ranged by the millions on the prairie, and ending with his transition to boxing aficionado, sportswriter and newspaper reporter in the early 1900s. Thirdly, he traveled widely, and appears to have been in almost every boom town on the western frontier at one time or another, and served as a law officer in many. And last, and probably of most interest to many: he lived, worked, drank, gambled, and sometimes fought beside many of the most celebrated and colorful gamblers and gun fighters of his day. Most prominently, he was an intimate friend and associate of Wyatt Earp, a man he met early in life on the plains, and a man he greatly admired and steadfastly supported all through his life.

Put this all together and you have an important book, and one which should become part of the historical record of not only Bat Masterson, but of America's western frontier during its heyday (the period from 1870 to 1900).

If you like reading about the old west, you'll like this one. It answers a lot of questions and fills in a lot of blanks. And you might be in for a few surprises. I, for one, was surprised to learn that Bat Masterson was the inspiration for Damon Runyon's story "'The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown," the story which led to the film "Guys and Dolls" with its main character, "Sky Masterson," modeled after Bat. Try this book. You'll like it --- five stars.

I not being one to read novels much at all, found this book very easy to read! I liked the fact that the author used historical documents to support his book, and had learned a great deal about Bat Masterson himself. The author also includes a lot of other characters that Bat had associated with during his time. I also come to learn that Bat had really been involved in a lot of small town politics, which in a sense was surprising to me for the life style he led.

I have not read other books of Bat Masterson, but I feel I don't need to after reading this book.

Bat Masterson: The Man and the Legend
I have been watching the old Bat Masterson TV series recently and I got curious about who he really was. This book is very well written and full of stories and excerpts for other biographies and newspaper articles to create a pretty complete picture of William Barclay Masterson.

This is probably the best biography of Bat Masterson out there. It is also a good history of 19th Century Kansas is that interests anyone. I learned that alot of western history took place in Kansas so I may want to travel there and check out the sights thanks to this book.

Mr. Dearment has provided an excellent read. The data is presented in a well thoughtout manner while the writing style is easy to read and comprehend. It seemed like there was less of Bat's later life presented then earlier days but that may be because there was more to present. I tend to read mostly non-fiction, historical books and found this to have been a very worthwhile project to read.