Customer Reviews

The Encyclopedia of Lawmen, Outlaws, and Gunfighters (Facts on File Crime Library)

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No period of American history is so rife with myths, legends and half-truths than the American West. And no part of the Western experience has been more inaccurately chronicled than the exploits of the lawmen, outlaws and gunfighters that roamed the Wild West. The aim of Leon Metz' informative encyclopedia is to separate the wheat from the chaff and give readers an accurate portrait of the men and women who lived - and often died - by the gun in those bygone days. He succeeds admirably!

Metz' book contains over 500 entries, about 90% of them on famous, infamous and little-known Westerners including Billy the Kid, the Earps, 'Black Jack' Ketchum, Butch Cassidy, John Selman, Willie Boy, Old Man Clanton, the Youngers, Luke Short, Bat Masterson, Bill Tilghman, Elfego Baca, Kid Curry, John Behan, etc. The remaining entries cover a variety of western subjects such as Horse Theft, Plains Rifle, Arizona Rangers, Jayhawkers, Law and Order, Navy Colt 1851, Saloons, Pinkerton Detective Agency, Cherokee Strip, Gunfight at the OK Corral, Road Agent Spin, etc. Entries range from a single paragraph to three/four pages. Metz is a well-known and respected author and authority on the Wild West and his expertise and literary skills are much in evidence.

My only beef with THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LAWMEN, OUTLAWS AND GUNFIGHTERS is the small number of photographs included in the book. About 70 entries are illustrated with photos. The book sells for $60.00 so the publisher, Facts on File, should have been able to incorporate more illustrations.

In any case, anyone interested in the Wild West will welcome and enjoy this interesting, authoritative and informative book. With apologies to Dutton Peabody, Metz' book demonstrates that fact is more interesting than legend. Highly recommended.

First of all I'm not an old west officianado, and most every critique of old west books I've seen people always want to go into some rant about the voracity of this story or that. Well, I'll bet even the experts will own a copy of this book even if they claim not to like it. The wealth and wide range of old west personas in this book is everything I hoped it would be. Every entry offers something interesting and you get a real feel of how things must have really been based on all the bits and pieces of information when taken on a whole. I don't know if the experts will ever agree on one perfect old west book, but until they do, I recommend this one.