Customer Reviews

Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone: The Life and Times of John Henry Holliday

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ever since I saw the movie Tombstone I have taken a fancy to the legendary gambler Doc Holliday. I was very pleased to find that Tom Barnes based his stroy more around the historical facts instead of the western myth that surrounds this interesting character. I enjoyed this book, but found the writing style to be that of a television or motion picture script. The narrative focused mostly on the verbage of the characters or the action they took part in. The times when the author took us into the characters mind and thoughts were few and not very deep when they did occur. I kept wondering when I was reading the book if the author wrote this book with hopes of later seeing it turned into a show or movie. This book also suffered from some editing errors with a few typos that should have been caught before publishing (see page 20 & 178). While this is a bit of a critical review, I would recomend this book to anyone wants to enjoy a good story and learn a little more about Mr. Holliday. This was a good story I was just hoping for something a little more...

This was a great book, very well written, interesting, informative and a fast reading, some surprising facts come to light; didn't want to put it down and enjoyed it very much.

Author Tom Barnes has meticulously written this factual account of the life of Doc Holliday in such a way that you feel as though you are actually right there, experiencing all the excitement and ambience of the era in which Doc's life unfolded. Furthermore, the author provides surprising aspects which only make the story that much more interesting. A great read.

Doc Holliday's Road To Tombstone is a page turner from beginning to end. From growing up in Griffin, becomming a Dentist his romance with Matti and his affair with the Firey Kate to the very interesting courtroom scene after the shooting.

Terrific book you will want to read it more then once.

I got into a phase of reading Old West history and biographies. This is not only one of the worst Old West books I have read but this is probably the worst book I have ever read. Earlier I posted two negative reviews of this book but curiously Amazon.Com took them down.

This book claims to be a novel. What it really seems to be is a carelessly written, poorly researched history; I guess the logic is then to call it fiction (a novel) so it cannot be criticized as a carelessly written, poorly researched history. I believe that the book contains poor typography, poor grammar, and 'historical errors', but since it is called fiction, I guess the author is off the hook for historical or factual errors.

If you are interested in Old West history or biographies of Old West characters like Doc Holliday, do not waste money on this trash - get a book published by a university press.

Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone

By Tom Barnes

Who would have thought the legend of Doc Holliday could be connected in any way to Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind.

When Doc Holliday went west after he discovered he had tuberculosis, which caused the death of his mother, he left behind a sweetheart who thought he would return after his cure in the warm, dry climate of the west. During his incredible research for the life of Doc Holliday the author, Tom Barnes discovered that this sweetheart, besides being a cousin of Doc Holliday was a distant cousin of Margaret( Peggy) Mitchell. This beautiful, girl, Mattie Holliday, wrote letters to Doc for several years and then after his death became a nun in the order of Sisters of Mercy. Margaret Mitchell used to visit her in the decade before Gone With The Wind was published. If you read the letters which appear in Doc Holliday's Road To Tombstone, you will know almost immediately which of the main characters of GWTW was inspired by Mattie Holliday.

John Henry Holliday was born in Griffin, Georgia and as a young boy moved with his family to Valdosta, Georgia just before the end of the Civil War. In 1872, John Henry was graduated with honors from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery. Thus when he went west he became known as "Doc" Holliday. Starting his career as a dentist in Texas, Doc soon learned he could make a better living as a gambler.

The author, Tom Barnes, uses his talent and skill in scriptwriting to portray the downward spiral of John Henry Holliday, He brings to life Doc Holliday's escapades which involved outlaws as well as famous law officers like Wyatt Earp. Those interested in the O K Corral may be more fascinated by the trial which took place afterwards. This book is a great reference for that whole period of the Old West.

Lenora Smalley

California Writers Club

Director at Large

THIS IS A SUPERB WRITER IN COMMAND OF HIS SUBJECT. I SHOULD KNOW, HAVING BEEN AN EARP BUFF FOR MANY DECADES AND HAVING READ ALL OF THE HOLLIDAY WRITINGS.

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A GOOD WRITER TO PULL YOU INTO A SUBJECT, WHICH SURELY DOESN'T HURT THE APPEAL OF THIS BOOK.

READ IT IN CONJUNCTION WITH KAREN TANNER'S "DOC HOLLIDAY, A FAMILY PORTRAIT", A BOOK WHICH I ENCOURAGED HER TO WRITE AND HELPED HER GET PUBLISHED

Although I am a former graduate student in history, the history of Wild West isn't my specialty. So I had a vague knowledge of Doc Holliday except that he was connected with Wyatt Earp and his gang in Tombstone. But when I read Tom Barnes' book, it helped me to understand the important role Doc Holliday had actually played in that town. I have some reservations about his alleged romance with his cousin, Mattie as I need to read a history book that would confirm it. But it was an enjoyable reading that took you out to the time of the Wild West.

I was doing some research on Doc Holliday when I came across author Tom Barnes' blog. After reading that I got his book, Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone. This book is a lot of fun. It brings back many facts I remembered from history classes but weaves them into a fascinating story. I have always had an interest in the Wild West and have read other books about the subject. The difference in this book and others is that Tom Barnes gives you the story of Doc Holliday from Holliday's point of view. It lets you see the human side of the famous gun slinger. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading.

Tom Barnes truly captures the real-life story behind this historical legend. Follow Doc Holliday from his childhood, to his eventual and unlikely friendship with Wyatt Earp, and of course the famous gunfight at the OK corral. This book is rich with descriptive detail of Griffin, Georgia, his place of birth, his close relationship with his mother and the attitudes that fueled his hot temper and led him to a life of practiced dentistry, gambling, gun fights and saloon altercations. Definitely a must read for old west buffs. Mixed Nuts