Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great read about an interesting subject:, February 21, 2005
This review is from: Draw: The Greatest Gunfights of the American West (Paperback)
The author, who is known for his fiction writing, has penned a very readable and entertaining history of the significant gunfights of the American West. The stories are detailed without being overly lengthy. Where disagreement exists between sources, the author points this out and opines what he feels is the most likely truth. His writing style is engaging and enjoyable. No western buff should be without a copy of this book on their shelf. If you like this subject, another must read is O'Neal's Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Thoroughly Researched, Fascinating Study, December 28, 2003
This review is from: Draw: The Greatest Gunfights of the American West (Paperback)
DRAW, as its title indicates, is a study of many of the more famous gunfights and gunfighters of the Old West. It's James Reasoner's first non-fiction work, and it's a winner. DRAW is well researched, and contains many little known anecdotes about the colorful characters that populate its pages (for example, gunfighter Clay Allison, was wont, when drunk, to strip off his clothes, and wearing nothing but his boots and hat, gallop his horse through town, shooting out windows and streetlights). The book is fast paced, and holds the reader's attention as well as, if not better than, any work of fiction. Reasoner makes the reader feel as if he or she is right there in the middle of the events he describes, while at the same time remaining true to the facts of the events, without exaggeration. This makes for a book that is both entertaining and enlightening, and never dull. DRAW is a must read for any student, serious or casual, of the history of the American West, or for anyone who just enjoys good cowboy or lawman versus outlaw stories. As the back cover blurb says: "These are the shoot-outs and showdowns that gave the Wild West its name...recounted here with gritty accuracy, colorful detail, and all the drama of life--and death--on the frontier". This is one of those rare works that lives up in its entirety to the publisher's hype. I highly recommend it.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable, March 9, 2008
This review is from: Draw: The Greatest Gunfights of the American West (Paperback)
Overall this a great book, however I only read about 3/4 of it. I really enjoyed reading this book in the evenings before falling asleep. I'm a non-fiction reader and love adventure books like this. This book reminds me of Mark Twain's Roughing It. It also reminds me of a book on bear attacks I read years ago called Mark of the Grizzly which is fantastic. You get to know the various outlaws, gangs, and lawmen of the time. Each chapter is a short biography of one or more characters and tells the story of a well known gun fight involving those characters. It's interesting to see how the citizens of the American West decided that some murders were justified.
One reviewer said this book is repetitive, which is a little bit true, but what do you expect from a book that tells the story of the greatest gunfights of the West? There are only so many variations in the way bank robberies, holdups and gun fights can happen.
That reviewer also said the author should have used references to back up accuracy of these events. I'm okay with there not being references in this book since I read it for entertainment. The events in this book are hard to prove true, but I believe the author has done a good job in researching each of these stories. A little bit of story telling is fine with me.
I recommend this book even though I didn't finish reading it.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
