Book Review: Famous Gunfighters of the Western Frontier

Famous Gunfighters of the Western Frontier: Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Luke Short and Others by W.B. Masterson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Bat Masterson led the life that movies are made of. He was a buffalo hunter, a gunfighter, and a lawman in the Wild West. Unusually, he ended his days as a writer in New York. One of his most enduring works is a series of articles about his fellow gunslingers, assembled into this volume by Dover Books.

It's a cracking read with lots of insights into life in those wild years on the frontier. Masterson describes gunfights, Indian fights, cattle drives, and Wild West towns with a flair and detail that doesn't come off as too dated even a hundred years later.

The problem is that it's not terribly accurate. More sober studies of some of the characters, such as later biographies of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, show that Masterson highly exaggerated the level of violence these people engaged in. Holliday comes off especially bad, being ascribed several murders for which there is no evidence. Masterson was obviously writing to an audience brought up on dime novels and hungry for rip-roaring tales of the frontier.

In that, Masterson certainly delivers. He and other figures of the Old West played a great part in creating its mystique. If you want to read a partially true Western, pick this up. If you want accurate history, look elsewhere.



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Civil War Photo Friday: Banner of the 22nd US Colored Troops

Here's another great photo courtesy the Library of Congress. It's the regimental flag of the 22nd Regiment US Colored Troops from New Jersey. This unit was formed in January of 1864. For a time it had garrison and scouting duty until it became part of the Siege of Petersburg, a grinding nine-month attempt to cut off Richmond's railway network.

The regiment participated in numerous assaults on Confederate forts and won the honor of being among the first soldiers to march into Richmond when the rebel capital fell. You can read more of this regiment's fascinating history here.

It's interesting that the banner has the words Sic Semper Tyrannis ("thus always to tyrants"). Brutus supposedly said this while assassinating Julius Caesar and John Wilkes Booth was heard to say this after shooting Lincoln. The 22nd was one of the many regiments sent out to hunt for Booth.

Birthday sales and the Battle of Lone Jack!

Today is my birthday. Yes, this grizzled old writer has turned 43. To celebrate, I'm dropping the prices of my ebooks for the rest of the month. My Civil War novel A Fine Likeness is going down from $5.99 to $2.99, and my short story collection The Night the Nazis Came to Dinner and other dark tales is reduced from $2.99 to $.99. That's right, just 99 cents!

While this is an historic moment, of greater historical importance is that this day marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Lone Jack. On August 16, 1862, Union and Confederate forces clashed at the little town of Lone Jack in Jackson County, western Missouri.

A group of rebel raiders had come up from Arkansas gather recruits. They found plenty thanks to a new decree by the state requiring all men to join their local Union militia or face punishment. Men who had been content to sit out the war had to choose sides, and many chose the South.

To head off the rebel raiders, three separate Union columns went after them. Only one made it in time. Outnumbered more than two-to-one, the Union troops put up a stiff fight all day amid Lone Jack's buildings before having to withdraw.

The Union troops had a few things on their side: they were defending a town and thus had better cover, they had two cannons while the rebels had none, and the Confederate force consisted of several units each under their own commander. By the end of the day, however, the weight of numbers gave the field to the rebels. For an excellent article on the battle with some good maps, click on the link I provided above.

Even though Lone Jack was a small battle compared to many in Missouri, it may have been the toughest one for the men in it. I'm tempted to include it in one of my novels one day!

New indie titles coming out thick and fast!

A couple of my blogger buddies have come out with books lately. First off, occasional guest blogger A.J. Walker over at the Genre Author blog has come out with At the Gates, Book Two of his timeless Empire series. He's offering it at an introductory price of $2.99 and has temporarily slashed the price of Book one, Hard Winter, to 99 cents! A.J. sent over a blurb for At the Gates.

In the thirtieth year of my life, I find I am a soldier in two armies about to go to war with each other, and already at war with a third.

We march across an endless plain, we soldiers of the Baron, loyal human subjects of the Dragonkin and their Timeless Empire. Loyal, I say, but only in name. For within that great army intent on crushing the rebellious cities of Haadsted and Ryksierde marches another army, a secret army, the army to which I owe my true allegiance.

Over at Post-Modern Pulps, Jack Badelaire has published Commando: Operation Arrowhead under his own PMP imprint. Jack loves all the classic men's adventure books from the Seventies and Eighties and judging from the blurb below, they certainly inspire him!

Corporal Thomas Lynch won fame at the Battle of Arras, and felt the shame of defeat at Dunkirk. A year later, as a member of Britain's elite No. 3 Commando, Lynch wants nothing more than to go back over the Channel and kick open Hitler's Fortress Europe, guns blazing.

Introduced by his commanding officer to the enigmatic Lord Pembroke, Lynch is offered a chance to be part of a special team of hand-picked Commandos. Their assignment: sneak into occupied France and ally with the French partisans to fight back against the Nazis.

Lynch readily accepts the challenge, but when the mission goes awry from the very beginning, and the motives of the partisan leader become suspect, the Commandos begin to wonder about their role in the mission: trusted allies with the partisans, or worms dangling as bait for a hungry fish?

COMMANDO: Operation Arrowhead is a military action - adventure novel written in the spirit of classic war movies such as The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen, and Where Eagles Dare, mixed with military adventure fiction such as Len Levinson’s The Sergeant and The Rat Bastards series.

Do you have a publication you'd like to appear on Civil War Horror? Drop me a line! All I ask is that it is at least vaguely associated with the subject of this blog. Military fantasy, local history, Westerns, horror novels. . .sure! Erotica, coloring books, investment guides. . .sorry, not my readership.

Book Review: Doc Holliday: A Family Portrait

Doc Holliday: A Family Portrait by Karen Holliday Tanner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book on one of the Wild West's most famous figures is written by his great-grandniece. Holliday came from genteel Southern aristocracy who were horrified at the noteriety he gained in his lifetime. As the author states, they "circled the wagons" and never talked to outsiders about him.

Now that it's been so long, Tanner decided to write a book on her ancestor based on family memoirs and stories. What we get is a sympathetic look at Holliday, especially his early years and family.

The best part of the book is the details. For example, it turns out Holliday was born with a cleft palate that was succesfully operated on, although it left him with a speech impediment in his early years that made him a quiet and bookish child. He later went on to study dentistry. When he contracted TB, he headed out West to practice his trade and clean out his lungs.

He soon got sucked into the frontier world of saloons and gambling houses. He'd learned lots of card games and tricks from one of the family slaves and this served him well. His time in Tombstone is covered well, although not in the detail that many coming to this book will probably like.

The book is illustrated with numerous never-before-published photographs of family figures and personal items of Doc's. All in all, it's a fascinating and lively read.

There are two reasons I don't give this five stars. First, I get the impression that Tanner is a bit too sympathetic, hardly surprising considering she's writing about family. While Doc's gunfighting and resultant body count has been vastly exaggerated over the years, he comes off much cleaner than even academic readers make him out to be. i also think she went a bit too lightly over the key elements of Doc's career, namely Tombstone. Those wanting to know more about that will not find this a standalone book.



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A nice review for A Fine Likeness

My Civil War novel A Fine Likeness just got a nice review over at Boom Baby Reviews. The reviewer gave it 4.5 stars (presumably out of five, lol) and said some nice things. One nice observation:

"One thing that I really liked about this story was the “grey” characters.

"All the main characters weren’t black and white, from the union captain Addison and his attitude towards Negroes, and the Southern bushwhacker Jimmy who didn’t really seem to care one way or the other. It had a very realistic feel to it, when many Civil War stories try to make the divide more pronounced. (Bad Southern Slave Owners, Righteous Yanks.)"

That's one of the things I was aiming for in this novel, that regular, flawed people get swept up by greater forces and that was is rarely black and white.

You can buy A Fine Likeness in ebook and print form at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online outlets.

Book review: Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge

Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the first book of read by the famous Beryl Bainbridge. While I was impressed with this short historical novel, I did have some reservations and was somewhat surprised it was shortlisted for a Booker.

The story follows several people in the circle of the eponymous Master Georgie. Each gets to narrate for a short time and we learn the intricacies of this group of followers who adore the hero without really understanding him. Like many people who attract little coteries of admirers, Georgie is a charismatic, a bit mysterious, and takes his friends for granted. I found the interpersonal relationships between these people as they orbit Georgie desperate for his attention to be expertly drawn.

I would have liked the book to be longer, however. We don't get to know the characters as much as I'd like to, and we never get to know Georgie at all. While that's annoying with the other characters, in the case of Georgie that's not surprising. In real life, people like Georgie must keep a bit of distance to keep their sparkle.

I was also bothered by a series of anachronisms about early photography and period armaments. Unless you're a history buff you'll miss them, but those who do detect them will wonder why Bainbridge didn't do a bit more research.

Much of the plot takes place in England, but when Georgie volunteers as a doctor in the Crimean War, his gaggle of admirers come with him. As part of the army's retinue, we are treated to the real hardships of war--starvation, harsh elements, and homesickness. Bainbridge brilliantly writes off the war's most famous event with the lines,

"I am at least better off as far as transport is concerned; three days ago over two hundred cavalry horses of the Light Brigade stampeded into the camp, their riders having perished in a charge along the north valley. An auction was held, and I bought another mare so shocked by its recent subjection to bombardment as to have passed beyond nervousness into a state bordering on imbecility."

I found this book a compelling read but not good enough to merit five stars or a Booker shortlist.


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