To The Last Man: A Story of the Pleasant Valley War [Mass Market Paperback]

Zane Grey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2000

This is the classic story of a deadly feud between cattlemen and sheepherders in the Tonto Basin of Arizona in the years years of the 1800s that gave substance to one of the legendary conflicts of the West. It's also the story of the fateful romance between Jean Isbel, son of a cattleman, and Ellen Jorth, daughter of a sheep rancher.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is a rousing, old-fashioned tale loosely based on the true story of a little-known chapter of Western history: the deadly feud of the Tonto Basin in Arizona or the Pleasant Valley War. When Jean Isbel answers his father's summons home, he makes a huge mistake for a cattleman's son-he falls for a sheepherder's daughter, Ellen Jorth. Her father is expanding his sheepherding operation, and the stock are grazing down the surrounding range. What begins as the age-old rivalry between cattlemen and sheepherders erupts into a violent war between cattlemen and rustlers masquerading as sheep men, and the two lovers are caught in the middle. Indeed, the violence seems to pause only long enough for the womenfolk to bury their dead before the hogs eat them. While the language is a bit dated, Jim Gough's masterful narration of this exciting story will hold listeners spellbound. Since good Westerns are rather scarce on the ground these days, Blackstone Audio is performing a special service by making this old classic available to a new generation. Highly recommended for all libraries.
Barbara Perkins, Irving P.L., TX
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

American author and the originator of Western novels. Grey was a prolific writer and wrote more than 80 books which sold over 13,000,000 copies in his lifetime. His first novel, Betty Zane, was published in 1904. His thrilling tales of the American West are notable for their sense of adventure and drama. The most popular of these are Riders of the Purple Sage (1912), The Lone Star Ranger (1915), Call of the Canyon (1924), and Code of the West (1934). Grey also wrote some non-fictional books, of which Tales of Fishing (1925) was the most successful. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; 1st edition (December 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812564650
• ISBN-13: 978-0812564655
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,487,171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Based on a true blood feud, you can see where it happened, February 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: To the Last Man (Mass Market Paperback)

Of all of Zane Grey's books, this one rates in my personal top three favorites. The story itself is outstanding. Lots of suspense and gunplay, with a hopeless romance injected to keep your mind engaged. This story is especially good as it is loosely based on an true blood feud which happened in Pleasant Valley, a town in the Tonto Basin area of Arizona. Therefore, you can visit the site, see where Zane set his novel, and know that while Grey's may have been a fictional account, a feud DID happen, right where you are standing. The town is now called Young, by the way, to get rid of the stigma associated with the Pleasant Valley War. During a cross country trip, I took the time to drive out to Young just so I could see for myself where it all happened. I recommend every Zan Grey fan take the time to do so. I also read the account of the actual feud (available at the Tonto Basin Historical Center), and several key elements in Grey's novel are true. There was only one active participant who survived the feud, and the bit about the battle pausing so the ladies could bury their dead husbands to keep hogs from eating the corpses actually happened.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful western classic, January 1, 2011

By 

K. Baney "Karen Baney" (Gilbert, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: To the Last Man (Kindle Edition)

This is the first Zane Grey book I've read and I loved it.

The story is about a son coming to Arizona to help his cattle-ranching father for a pending feud with sheepherders in the 1870's. On the way there he meets a woman sheep herder and falls in love--only to discover later that she is the daughter of his father's arch enemy.

As the tale unfolds its mixture of action and romance, the book becomes impossible to put down. The detail in which he describes the action scenes leaves you feeling like you are right there in the middle of the gun fight. The romance is sweet and endearing.

At times, some of the descriptions of the landscape seemed a bit wordy, but did not detract from the overall story.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Classics, July 17, 2009

By 

Michael P. Gallagher (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: To The Last Man with Active Table of Contents (Kindle Edition)

I picked this Kindle version and other PD books up on a whim, figuring the 99 cent price was worth it, and I hadn't read the original in over 25 years. I got more than a buck's worth of enjoyment out of it!

Looking at what this group has alos published, they have a lot of other classic books available for the Kindle. Now, after reading this book, I see they are offering 25 Zane Grey classic westerns on the Kindle for 99 cents.

A lot of these PD books formatting leaves something to be desired, but this one was pretty good. We're in a recession, so I like to see the pricing of these digital books right where they should be.