The Outlaw Youngers: A Confederate Brotherhood : A Biography

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but how factual?
Review: The book was fun to read; it gave the detail and the background that I like because it sets the historical stage nicely for the well-publicized behavior of the Younger and James brothers. And it's not first out-West book I've read which shows the thin line between heroic gunmen like Wyatt Earp and bad guys. So, that the Youngers and Jameses were tipped onto the side of outlawry after the bitter Civil War period is believable.
The only trouble I had with the book was that it was a bit sloppily written -- and edited -- which I noted from the number of typographical errors and misspellings. The author referred to Charleton College (not Carleton College), correcting it in the second reference, and Hemline, instead of Hamline University. It made me wonder how many other mistakes there were.
I also wondered why no major endorsements like from the book clubs of the Washington Post or New York Times or Los Angeles Times were included in the introduction. I suspect they weren't favorable, if they were done at all. I find little value in an endorsement from a TV cowboy.
But I loved reading about the Youngers and that period. And the writing was fairly well done.

Rating:
Summary: The best book to date, if that's saying anything.
Review: This book is perhaps the best book about the Youngers to date, in a field that's not crowded with great works. This is her first book and she falls into the trap facing all biographers - objectivity. The book certainly seems to suffer from a pro-Confederate bias in the tone of her work, much as some books suffer from a pro-Northern bias. This book also relies on on the so-called "Maggie" letters for some of its most interesting revelations. Maggie is the alleged mistress of Bob Younger, but we are told in the note on the sources [page 340] that the actual source of these letters can't be revealed as they are in a private collection and can't be examined. Ditto with a number of alleged letters concerning Jim Younger. I would have given this book higher marks but for this. Some of the information may, or may not, be reliable, and this isn't made fully clear in the main text. If one day it becomes possible to examine and confirm the authenticity of these, the book certainly deserves a revised edition. Unless another book appears on the horzon, I'd say this will be the standard biography of the Youngers for some years to come.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: This is an extremely engaging account of the less famous half of the James-Younger gang. It is beautifully written and well researched. The author also provides a vivid glimpse into the suffering of the Southern civilian during the Civil War, which is an aspect of this era that seems to be under-reported by most authors dealing with this topic. Brant is aggressive in her writing and fills in the occasional gaps in the Younger's history with plausable theories. Her account of the Northfield raid and the eventual capture of the Youngers is by far the most detailed and informative version of this episode that I have read. This book is written intelligently yet it is never dry and dull. An interesting and exciting read. A real page turner!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: This was not a good book-it was a GREAT book! Again, Brant has done some quality research. We see the whole picture from the origin of the Youngers since the grandparents on to the father, a wealthy Henry Younger, being murdered by The Union troops, his farm being plundered and burned to the ground, leaving the sons to find a way to survive in western Missouri during the Civil War. This book provides a real window into the era, the motives of The Union as well as the reasons these men had to live the way they did. Anyone interested in this type of material will enjoy this book. We see who they were, why they were like this and especially get a new, documented perspective on the cruelty and barbaric behavior of The Union during this era. It also provides a new, accurate perspective of Southern Culture during this time period that is far removed from Hollywood.