Law of the Desert Born (Thorndike Western I) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Louis L'Amour (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2008 | Series: Thorndike Western I

These stories represent Louis L'Amour at his best--stirring adventure tales of the ageless Old West, as tough and gritty as the men who tames it. Each story is personally selected, with an introduction and special historical notes, by the author.

Meet men like Shad Marone, the gunfighter who killed in self-defense, but who is forced to run because he killed the wrong man--the sheriff's brother; Matt Sabre, as tough as the Texas trail he rides, on a mission of mercy to the wife of the man he gunned down; and Kim Sartain, a reckless young drifter who refuses to back down from a showdown with a vicious outlaw killer. Every story in this collection bear's Louis L'Amour's distinctive brand of unbridled action and unembellished authenticity--taking us into the white-hot deserts, stone-cold canyons, and rough-and-tumble towns of the world only he knows so well.


From the Paperback edition.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

These stories represent Louis L'Amour at his best--stirring adventure tales of the ageless Old West, as tough and gritty as the men who tames it. Each story is personally selected, with an introduction and special historical notes, by the author.

Meet men like Shad Marone, the gunfighter who killed in self-defense, but who is forced to run because he killed the wrong man--the sheriff's brother; Matt Sabre, as tough as the Texas trail he rides, on a mission of mercy to the wife of the man he gunned down; and Kim Sartain, a reckless young drifter who refuses to back down from a showdown with a vicious outlaw killer. Every story in this collection bear's Louis L'Amour's distinctive brand of unbridled action and unembellished authenticity--taking us into the white-hot deserts, stone-cold canyons, and rough-and-tumble towns of the world only he knows so well. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

These stories represent Louis L'Amour at his best--stirring adventure tales of the ageless Old West, as tough and gritty as the men who tames it. Each story is personally selected, with an introduction and special historical notes, by the author.

Meet men like Shad Marone, the gunfighter who killed in self-defense, but who is forced to run because he killed the wrong man--the sheriff's brother; Matt Sabre, as tough as the Texas trail he rides, on a mission of mercy to the wife of the man he gunned down; and Kim Sartain, a reckless young drifter who refuses to back down from a showdown with a vicious outlaw killer. Every story in this collection bear's Louis L'Amour's distinctive brand of unbridled action and unembellished authenticity--taking us into the white-hot deserts, stone-cold canyons, and rough-and-tumble towns of the world only he knows so well.


From the Paperback edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 365 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; Lrg edition (December 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141040627X
• ISBN-13: 978-1410406279
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,315,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"I think of myself in the oral tradition--as a troubadour, a village tale-teller, the man in the shadows of a campfire. That's the way I'd like to be remembered--as a storyteller. A good storyteller."

It is doubtful that any author could be as at home in the world re-created in his novels as Louis Dearborn L'Amour. Not only could he physically fill the boots of the rugged characters he wrote about, but he literally "walked the land my characters walk." His personal experiences as well as his lifelong devotion to historical research combined to give Mr. L'Amour the unique knowledge and understanding of people, events, and the challenge of the American frontier that became the hallmarks of his popularity.

Of French-Irish descent, Mr. L'Amour could trace his own in North America back to the early 1600s and follow their steady progression westward, "always on the frontier." As a boy growing up in Jamestown, North Dakota, he absorbed all he could about his family's frontier heritage, including the story of his great-grandfather who was scalped by Sioux warriors.

Spurred by an eager curiosity and desire to broaden his horizons, Mr. L'Amour left home at the age of fifteen and enjoyed a wide variety of jobs, including seaman, lumberjack, elephant handler, skinner of dead cattle, and miner, and was an officer in the transportation corps during World War II. During his "yondering" days he also circled the world on a freighter, sailed a dhow on the Red Sea, was shipwrecked in the West Indies and stranded in the Mojave Desert. He won fifty-one of fifty-nine fights as a professional boxer and worked as a journalist and lecturer. He was a voracious reader and collector of rare books. His personal library contained 17,000 volumes.

Mr. L'Amour "wanted to write almost from the time I could talk." After developing a widespread following for his many frontiers and adventure stories written for fiction magazines, Mr. L'Amour published his first full length novel, Hondo, in the United States in 1953. Every one of his more than 120 books is in print; there are more than 300 million copies of his books in print worldwide, making him one of the bestselling authors in modern literary history. His books have been translated into twenty languages, and more than forty-five of his novels and stories have been made into feature films and television movies.

The recipient of many great honor and awards, in 1983 Mr. L'Amour became the first novelist to ever to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the United States Congress in honor of his life's work. In 1984 he was also awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Reagan.

Louis L'Amour died on June 10, 1988. His wife, Kathy, and their two children, Beau and Angelique, carry the L'Amour publishing tradition forward with new books written by the author during his lifetime to be published by Bantam.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Western short stories by America's master storyteller, January 27, 2012

By 

Thomas Erickson (Lutz Fl and Felt Oklahoma) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Law of the Desert Born (The Louis L'Amour Collection) (Leather Bound)

I'm a huge fan of the late Louis L'Amour. I've read many of his Western novels, Western short stories, his non Western novels and his first book of poems. See my reviews... almost all 5 stars. INMO Louis L'Amour is one of America's greatest authors and not just a writer of Western stories. He is the only author to receive both the Presidential and Congressional Gold Award. Truly a master.

Law of the Desert born is a great book of Western short stories. L'Amour again shows he is a master of character development, scenery description and great flowing stories. I liked that he wrote a one page writing of true events of the old west before each of his fictional stories. That was so interesting. Included are a great Forward. The stories are... Law Of The Desert Born, Riding On, The Black Rock Coffin Makers, Desert Death Song, Ride You Tonto Riders!, One Last Gun Notch, The Gun Talk Loud, Grub Line Rider,and The Marshal Of Painted Rock. L'Amour said he is throwing in the story Trap of Gold of his that has been printed in unauthorized books so the reader can have the authorized stories in one Law Of The Desert Born.

Also L'Amour claims there is an unauthorized group of books like his Frontier series by some magazine and he will not autograph a copy of an unauthorized book. I've bought a lot of his books and have his Frontier series. Its a nice beautiful book and I think its an authorized edition but now I'm not sure. If I have time before passing away,and if I can afford it, I plan to buy all L'Amour's writings I can at used prices to read and add to our family library. INMO one of America's best authors. I'm sorry I never met Louis L'Amour as he led a colorful life with many fascinating occupations( some of his stories are based on them) and visited many Foreign lands before settling down to do his writings. Law Of The Desert Born... rated 5 stars