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28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Billy the Kid Lives, May 13, 2000
Frederick Nolan is, by far, one of the top-notch writers living today dealing with the subject of William Bonney (Billy the Kid). Even though Nolan makes his home in England you wouldn't know it by reading his material; he's a man of the west and that west is Lincoln County, New Mexico. I've studied the Kid's life since my first visit to Lincoln in 1969. As a young boy standing at the foot of the stairs in the Lincoln County Courthouse, I saw firsthand evidence of the Kid's desperation to live; a bullet hole in the wall. This resulted from the Kid's dramatic escape, while being held prisoner in the Courthouse, on April 28, 1881. He shot at deputy James W. Bell and missed, hence the bullet hole in the wall. The Kid's next shot found its mark and Bell stumbled out the back door before he died. The Kid's next act is pure Hollywood except it's true. Still shackled by ankle, the Kid made his way to the Sheriff's armory, grabbed a shotgun and moved toward the window facing northeast on the second floor. There he waited for Deputy Bob Olinger. I'll have Nolan tell the rest of the story. Nolan's book is filled with many fascinating photos of the places and people during the Kid's life. Many photos are comparison shots of the places then and now. Nolan has dedicated many years researching this story and tells it with passion. I highly recommend THE WEST OF BILLY THE KID.
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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well-researched, entertaining and finally, a fair account., April 17, 1999
This review is from: The West of Billy the Kid (Hardcover)
A pencil drawing of my great, great, great uncle is in this book. My family knew Billy and Pat Garrett. Both spent nights at my great, great grandfather's ranch prior to the killing of Billy. My family was present during the drama, the Lincoln County Wars, and the governorship of Lew Wallace. Maybe I am not an expert on Billy the Kid, but I feel I have right to a few opinions via ancestry and old family stories. One opinion is that good solid research on the Kid is hard to come by. I have been hardily disappointed by many books that portray him either as a complete socio-path or as a half-wit misled by circumstance. This book does the best of any I have encountered in placing Billy in a mileau, a time, a place. The resultant sense of having been there and having seen the interaction of real people with complex motives is the reward. This volume has many photos and inset personals on the people whose lives surrounded Billy's. It is a study of a man in context, and therefore, is a study, too, of the time. Thank you, Frederick Nolan, thanks for giving me and my family the Billy we always knew existed, the Real Billy.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Billy Joel should have read this book before he wrote his song, February 16, 2008
Several years ago while at work, it became evident that at least for several weeks Billy Joels'well known song, "The Ballad Of Billy The Kid" was getting airplay at the same time each week. We could almost predict it and kind of expected it.I had heard it before but never really listened to it closely.Now, I was paying attention to every line as others may have,and took it for fact.This was right up until I heard a well known disc jockey discount the song and state that much of what was in the song was not fact at all but just made up ,fabricated and just literal allusion. At first I was taken aback, a little annoyed, but then I realized that Mr. Joel had to rhyme his words and possibly used what worked and to hell with the facts,which of course, was his prerogative.In doing so however, he did Billy The Kid a great injustice.Now I became curious for real facts about Billy and I did some searching and boy was I astounded at what I found.His life was nothing at all like the song or even what I had thought Billy the Kid was like based on my general knowledge of him picked up along the way.I envisioned a killer cowboy,a bank robbing,train robbing outlaw terrorizing the early west.Well,I have since developed an enduring respect for him after reading a very accurate and truthful history of him as written by Frederick Nolan.This book reads like a Russian novel.There are so many characters and people involved in the Kids world it boggles the mind.This book is completely filled with photos,maps,references and mini histories, one doesn't know where to begin. It does get jumpy at times where I felt lost in all the action but each chapter ends well seemingly tying up all the loose ends.How these guys did it and why anybody would go west is beyond me.But go they did and it was less than placid. The early west was a dry, dusty violent place and the Kid was right in the middle of it.His beginnings were confusing from a historical point of view due to lack of information and it seems he rarely experienced any lengthy periods of true peace.He always had to scrape for an existence,fight for scraps and he did defend himself as any respectable person would.He killed when absolutely necessary and was not the sociopathic killer history's tall tales have made him out to be.He had emotion,compassion and youthful exuberance and was well liked among his peers and was respected as well for his sense of fair play and justice.This it seems, was all for nought for his death was both tragic and violent at the hand of Pat Garrett who has his own version to tell and did for profit.He lived his life as best he could under the circumstances and remains a tragically misunderstood chapter of our midwest history. Just a blip on the radar, but a person who stood fast for his rights and was cheated out of a fair shake on more than one occasion. Nolan reflects that and is honest in his assessment of just what is truth and what is fiction.He attempts to dispell the myths and report the events down to their absolute truths without using dramatic,theatrical scenes.I did alot of research on Billy and boiled down the real books on his life.This book glared like a beacon for its honest assessment of just who and what Billy Antrum,and then Billy Bonney and then who became finally, Billy The Kid, was and what his life was from its mysterious beginings to its abrupt yet vague end.If Billy the Kid is a source of mystery that needs to be cleared then Nolans book is it.It is clearly evident that he did his research and would not fabricate facts to enhance the history.I recommend this book to Mr. Billy Joel.Perhaps he could compose a second edition more accurate to poor Billy Bonney to give him proper justice.As a book about the man and his times I highly recommend it.It is an arduous but fun read and when you hear the above noted song you will smile to yourself and know better and perhaps hold a place in your heart for the young man that history crucified perhaps a bit prematurely.The book is tops if you need or want to know Billy the Kid.
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