Rating: 
Summary: Wyatt Earp
Review: I read S.N. Lake's biography of Wyatt Earp years ago when I was a youngster staying in a remote fish camp on the Colorado River south of Topock, Arizona.I learned Wyatt Earp once prospected through this area, and I read Lake's version of the Earp story with great interest. Casey Tefertiller's following biography of Wyatt Earp is no doubt a superior book with intense research, but strangely only approximates the location of Earp's last residence in Los Angeles, California, and does not give a specific location to Earp's winter "Happy Days" cooper mine. Earp's years after his departure from Tombstone is that of a career gambler, saloon proprietor, and sometime police agent wandering from San Diego, California, to Nome, Alaska. Wyatt Earp experienced controversy and bitter enemies, but he also had famous friends who would defended his reputation without hesitation. Casey Tefertiller wrote,"He was not a better man than those around him; he was a braver one."
Rating: 
Summary: Wyatt's bio
Review: "The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp" When I purchased this book two years ago I was not sure that I really wanted to read another Earp book... Casey Tefertiller obviously spent days in research libraries, reading over old newspapers and seldom-seen manuscripts. Many of these documents had not been quoted and referenced within a major work on Wyatt Earp. The author tried to remain neutral and objective and present the facts he uncovered so the readers could draw their own conclusions. For the most part, I feel, Tefertiller was successful in keeping his personal opinions to a minimum. I was a little disappointed that the author did not spend more time on Wyatt's early life and upbringing. How did a young man working on the family farm, while his older siblings were off to the Civil War, develop the traits that would bring us the man who became the legendary 'Frontier Marshal'. Much of book centers around the Tombstone years, the shoot-out and the vendetta ride of Waytt Earp. Of course, this is the portion of Wyatt's life that most people are concerned with. The book is very attractively packaged loaded with photos and notes. However, I wish the publisher has just printed this 500 page book on 500 pages rather the 344. My middle-aged eyes were really put to the test. I recommend this book to Wyatt Earp and fans of the old west. Enjoy.. Jim Groom
Rating:
Summary: Wyatt's bio
Review: "The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp" When I purchased this book two years ago I was not sure that I really wanted to read another Earp book... Casey Tefertiller obviously spent days in research libraries, reading over old newspapers and seldom-seen manuscripts. Many of these documents had not been quoted and referenced within a major work on Wyatt Earp. The author tried to remain neutral and objective and present the facts he uncovered so the readers could draw their own conclusions. For the most part, I feel, Tefertiller was successful in keeping his personal opinions to a minimum. I was a little disappointed that the author did not spend more time on Wyatt's early life and upbringing. How did a young man working on the family farm, while his older siblings were off to the Civil War, develop the traits that would bring us the man who became the legendary 'Frontier Marshal'. Much of book centers around the Tombstone years, the shoot-out and the vendetta ride of Waytt Earp. Of course, this is the portion of Wyatt's life that most people are concerned with. The book is very attractively packaged loaded with photos and notes. However, I wish the publisher has just printed this 500 page book on 500 pages rather the 344. My middle-aged eyes were really put to the test. I recommend this book to Wyatt Earp and fans of the old west. Enjoy.. Jim Groom --This text refers to the Hardcover edition
Rating: 
Summary: The Real Wyatt...
Review: ...as I knew him. Being the fifth man at the OK Corral fight (I was covering the street to keep any of the Cowboys from attacking us from behind), I knew Wyatt and Doc better than anyone. I lived just up the street fromWyatt, Virgil and Morgan, and they would often ask me to back them during any confrontaions they would have in Tombstone. Certainly this book comes the closest to the truth.
Rating:
Summary: Too much author opinion in places
Review: Although this book gives a warts and all account of Wyatt, it is pro-Earp.Nearly every adjective describing Doc Holliday is negative, although Tefertiller gave no evidence to support his views. Tefertiller's negativaty towards Doc Holliday is plain bitchiness and it lets Tefertiller down.
Rating:
Summary: History wins out
Review: Casey Tefertiller has written a fine book of history, in a field where, for so long, lore has dominated the scene. Boldly challenging the half-truths and falsification of other writers, Tefertiller has gone to primany sources to tell the tale of the West's most misunderstood character. His reporter's desire for the facts in hand, Tefertiller has taken on the painstaking task of writing a book from historical evidence, rather than second or third hand gossip. Tefertiller uses the newspaper accounts, trial transcripts, and period diaries, to tell the tale. From all angles, an excellent read, from a hard working author
Rating:
Summary: Wyatt Earp: An American Hero
Review: Casey Tefertiller has written a very well researched, totally fair, and engrossing book about the most famous person of the old west. He approaches Earp's life with an open mind and captures the essence of the man without nominating him for sainthood or branding him as the next satan. He provides the detail from Earp's early years which help shape his adult personality and actions in Dodge City and Tombstone. He does not attempt to hide the seedy side of Earp's life during those years or the fact that Earp was not above using people or events to advance his cause or personal gain. The most important part of the book is the detailed discussion that explains the reasons for the gunfight with the Clantons and his revenge against the cowboys,for the murder of his brother, that showed Earp to be more ruthless than any outlaw of his time. It has always amazed me that movie makers during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, dreamed up total fiction about Earp instead of using the truth. I have to credit the makers of "Wyatt Earp" and "Tombstone" for correcting this error. Both movies capture the soul of Earp in different ways. If you are going to read one book about Wyatt Earp, this is the one to read because it is the best. If you want to read another, try "Inventing Wyatt Earp". It was written about the same time as this book and is very good.
Rating:
Summary: An impartial bio of Earp written by a trained journalist.
Review: Earp is an enigma in American history. In fact, he was not a significant figure in our history at all. However, he has become a towering figure in American popular culture. A very private and soft-spoken man, Earp considered himself a businessman who, upon occasion, fulfilled the duties of a policeman. Tefertiller, the first trained journalist to research Earp's past since Stuart Lake did in the 1920s, captures the Earp enigma and complexity. Tefertiller takes Earp from the frontier towns where Earp was largely in control of his environment to his declining days in Los Angeles where he could control neither journalists nor his wife. This is a real biography based on facts, rising above a field that has been dominated by buffs, romantics and fiction writers disguised as historians. The New York Times called Tefertiller's book one of the significant books of 1997. There are many reasons why. Roger S. Peterson, Rocklin, California.
Rating:
Summary: The Real Wyatt...
Review: I am an avid fan of this era, specificly Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, to name a few. Each and every one tells a completely different tale. However, it was refreshing to read material that was well researched, references documented and cataloged.
The print is smaller than normal, and tends to tire the eyes, but is a very good read. It was a bit disappointing at times to read that this hero/legend/mythical person actually had flaws, however very refreshing to be told, yes, he was a human being.
You are left to draw your own conclusions, having been given all the sides of each tale. You can't help but feel as though despite his shortcomings, he was an exceptionaly great man.
The ending is a bit sad, however the end result as we see things today are very positive. Anyone who enjoys this era, these heros if you will, should definetly read this one. If you've seen the movie "Tombstone" with Kurt Russell/Val Kilmer, it's like they compliment each other. Gives the movie some validity even though there are a few flaws. Excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: The closest to the truth I've found
Review: I am an avid fan of this era, specificly Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, to name a few. Each and every one tells a completely different tale. However, it was refreshing to read material that was well researched, references documented and cataloged.
The print is smaller than normal, and tends to tire the eyes, but is a very good read. It was a bit disappointing at times to read that this hero/legend/mythical person actually had flaws, however very refreshing to be told, yes, he was a human being.
You are left to draw your own conclusions, having been given all the sides of each tale. You can't help but feel as though despite his shortcomings, he was an exceptionaly great man.
The ending is a bit sad, however the end result as we see things today are very positive. Anyone who enjoys this era, these heros if you will, should definetly read this one. If you've seen the movie "Tombstone" with Kurt Russell/Val Kilmer, it's like they compliment each other. Gives the movie some validity even though there are a few flaws. Excellent read.
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