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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent research, splotchy presentation., July 3, 2006
This review is from: Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend (Hardcover)
Any reader enjoying history, specifically the "Old West," will delight in the literary offerings associated with Tombstone in the 1880s. In particular, the Earp/Holliday/Cow-Boys saga is one with many tales, some based in fact, some in myth. Since the movies, "Tombstone" and "Wyatt Earp," we have been flooded with books centered on this fascinating story. The difficult part for a discerning reader however, is knowing which one is the closest to the "real" truth. I suspect we will never know which version encompasses the greatest percentage of accurate datapoints, but we still try. Gary Roberts has provided us with another chapter to consider, and while I consider Mr. Roberts a very skilled and masterful historian, he has had better efforts.
Roberts details the life of John Henry Holliday, from his birth in Georgia in 1851 to his death in Glenwood Springs, CO in 1887. The greatest portion of the book is spent during the time frame of Doc's introduction and frienship with the Earp brothers, but Roberts does spend time chronicaling Holliday's early life, including his foray into dentistry.
Much has been written and speculated regarding Holliday's reason(s) for leaving Georgia, although no definitive answer has been nailed down; Roberts is no exception here; rather, he presciently presents the primary theories of Doc's departure (a tainted affair with his cousin; or the health benefits of the western climate {Doc had consumption [TB]}; or escaping the grasp of the police in questioning a shooting that Doc may have been involved in). Take your pick, these seem to be the primary reasons historians provide for Doc's permanent departure of Georgia.
Doc basically drifted from Kansas to Texas, from dentistry to gambling. He made a name for himself as a gambler, and more important to future events, as a ready and willing gunfighter. During this period, and up to his death, Doc fought a range of emotions brought on by his omnipresent tuberculosis and his ever-increasing use of alcohol to combat his myriad aliments.
Roberts reports a variety of opinions of Doc, one of the most telling from Virgil Earp who said, "Doc was gentlemanly," and "a good dentist." Wyatt Earp remembered him as a "mad, merry scamp with heart of gold and nerves of steel." Bat Masterson was more critical, describing Doc as a mean drunk with a little-man complex. Masterson went on to say, "[he was] hot headed and impetuous and very much given to both drinking and quarreling, and among men who did not fear him, he was very much disliked." Other characterizations wof Doc seemed to middle those of Wyatt and Bat. Regardless, there is little doubt that the two movies present one of Doc's attributes quite accurately...he knew he was dying and had very little care who he confronted or why.
Doc was easily prickly when he was drinking, which was often, and when he was gambling. In one infamous instance, Doc added to his legend while at the faro table. Doc was dealing faro, and Ed Bailey was at Doc's table. Bailey continued to look at the "deadwood," the played or discarded cards (which was bad form and "not allowed") to which he received Doc's admonishment. Bailey continued to do so to which Doc pulled down a hand without showing his cards. Bailey went to pull his gun, but before he could unholster it, Doc had pulled his knife and "with one sideways sweep had caught Bailey right below the brisket." This was well chronicled in Tombstone, although the story was embellished under different circumstances.
Much of the Tombstone years have been well documented by Roberts however, this is where this biography hits a wall. Yes, the facts Roberts uncovers are well presented and well footnoted, but it reads as dry and spartan as a military manual on disassembling a rifle. Roberts had an opportunity to put his research into Doc in the form of a story, well footnoted, but with some panache and spirit. Instead, the Tombstone years are nothing more than snippets of research Roberts has uncovered shoved together in the form of chapters. Again, Mr. Roberts is very talented, but perhaps that is why this offering is so disappointing. It just doesn't measure up to his talent.
While I would still recommend this book for history and western buffs, be prepared for a solemn, academic read.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Destined to become a classic..., July 16, 2006
This review is from: Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend (Hardcover)
This is a long-awaited book that is destined to be a classic in American biography. Gary L. Roberts has captured the life and the legend of his fellow Georgian in a manner unlikely to be excelled in our lifetime. The highly respected Roberts, who has written dozens of articles about various aspects of western history over more than four decades, is Professor Emeritus of History at Abraham Baldwin College. He is the author of the acclaimed study of 19th century New Mexico mayhem, "Death Comes for the Chief Justice: The Slough-Rynerson Quarrel and Political Violence in New Mexico." This book is the culmination of a lifetime of his research into the life of the legendary gunfighting dentist.
Several other features make this a work apart. There is Roberts's vivid writing style, with prose that sparkles and at other times touches the reader to the core. This is especially true of the magnificently written final two chapters- lengthy analyses of the Doc Holliday legend this reviewer believes are destined to become classics- The Anatomy of a Western Legend, and The Measure of a Legend. Dr. Roberts brings to this field a wider view of western American history and its themes than most writers in this genre, placing Doc in the context of the Railroad Age, the coming of the Industrial Revolution to the American West, the closing of the frontier, and more. His feel for historical process enables him to deliver measured judgments that are convincing. His long immersion in Holliday research enables him to cite sources long unavailable.
Understanding Holliday's roots in antebellum Georgia, his boyhood Civil War trials, and the chaos of the Reconstruction Era comes naturally to this author from the Peach State. Readers will find much new material on many well-known figures and episodes, and this reviewer found the bringing of Doc's sometime paramour Big Nose Kate to life particularly poignant. Kate is a real human being for perhaps the first time in western letters. Yet the author does not claim to have the final word on the intriguing figure of John Henry Holliday; true historian that he is, he understands historical writing as part of an ongoing dialogue. To that end he has used a prodigious amount of modern research, seemingly leaving no stone unturned, and has listed his sources in a detailed and admirable section of annotated endnotes that scholars will be using for years to come. The photographs sprinkled throughout the text will add to the reader's experience.
Readers interested in the sagas of Dodge City, Tombstone, and the single most famous stand-up and face each other gunfight in the history of the American West, The Gunfight at the OK Corral, and yet who want more than their Hollywood versions, will want to read this book. Doc Holliday, The Life and Legend, makes a fine companion to the 1997 biography Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend by Roberts's research colleague Casey Tefertiller. It is unlikely an accident that the titles of both books are similar. Both books have advanced our understanding of these two household names, and Roberts has deepened our knowledge of not only the life, but the context of the life and the development and meaning of the legend of Doc Holliday.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Getting to know the man behind the legend, March 22, 2007
This review is from: Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend (Hardcover)
In "Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend" Gary Roberts immediately establishes his credentials in historical research and although he comes from a life in academia, that never inhibits his storytelling ability. Roberts tells about a young Atlanta dentist, his family conflicts, the relationship with his catholic cousin Mattie Holliday, contracting tuberculosis and then moving west. Doc continues his dental practice in Dallas where he is attracted to saloon life and becomes a skilled gambler. In Ft. Griffin, Texas Kate Elder sets her sights on Doc and when trouble comes and a noose is about to be tied around Doc's neck Kate executes a daring escape plan and the two of them ride north to Dodge City, Kansas where they begin a tumultuous relationship.
Doc sets up a dental practice in the cattle town and establishes good relations with the likes of Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Luke Short and Eddie Foy. When a wild bunch of drunken cowboy's corner assistant city Marshall Wyatt Earp Doc hurries to his rescue. Wyatt is grateful to Doc for saving his life, and that was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.
Later they both wind up in Tombstone, Arizona. A corrupt political ring runs Cochise County and uses a cowboy faction as muscle. Wyatt's intent to run for Cochise County Sheriff on a ticket of law and order opens up a hornet's nest. When the showdown comes Doc joins Wyatt and his brothers on the side of law and order in the shootout at the OK Corral.
Ring lawyers accuse the Earps and Holliday of murder and take them to court. A twenty-eight day hearing, before Judge Spicer, frees Doc and the others but the cowboy's won't quit. They harass the mayor and Judge Spicer, ambush and wound Virgil Earp and assassinate Morgan Earp.
Roberts continues the post Tombstone story with Jail time for Doc in Denver and a shooting episode in Leadville. Then on November 8, 1887 Doc succumbs to tuberculosis and is buried in Linwood Cemetery at Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
You'll enjoy this engaging and informative book while at the same time you're getting to know the real man behind the legend.
Tom Barnes Author of "Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone."
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