Customer Reviews

The Cowboys (Old West Time-Life Series)

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Yet one more in the Time-Life "Old West" series. . . . Here, the focus is cowboys. As the work says at the outset, outlining context for what is to follow (Page 17): "The high time of the American cowboy lasted a bare generation, from the end of the Civil War until the mid-1880s, when bad weather, poor range management and disastrous cattle-market prices forced an end to the old freewheeling ways."

The book begins with a gritty examination of everyday life for the cowboy. Life was often difficult. The chapter also considers "the uniform of the range," from headgear to pants, to spurs. Too, the land itself is considered in the opening chapter. The many photos in this chapter help give the reader a sense of the land. Chapter 2 looks at "The Cattle Barons." Examples of the players include Charlie Goodnight, whose career is described in some detail. Other barons are depicted on pages 58-59; 6 baronesses (including Charlie Goodnight's wife). Chapter 3 looks at where the cowboys lived--from homes of the barons to shacks to bunkhouses. . . . A nice touch: recipes used in the West (see page 87). Other chapters consider roundups, the trail, beef boom towns (e.g., Dodge City, Newton, Hays City, and Abilene), and the code of the west.

All in all, a solid representative in this series. Pluses include photographs (including a nice one of Wild Bill Hickok on page 202), a gritty sense of reality rather than romanticization. Sometimes, coverage is a bit thin on certain subjects, but the book covers a lot of territory and that is almost inevitable.

This is a great book for anyone who enjoys the old west times, it has great information and photos.