Draw: The Greatest Gunfights of the American West

Rating:
Summary: A Thoroughly Researched, Fascinating Study
Review: DRAW, as its title indicates, is a study of many of the more famous gunfights and gunfighters of the Old West. It's James Reasoner's first non-fiction work, and it's a winner.

DRAW is well researched, and contains many little known anecdotes about the colorful characters that populate its pages (for example, gunfighter Clay Allison, was wont, when drunk, to strip off his clothes, and wearing nothing but his boots and hat, gallop his horse through town, shooting out windows and streetlights). The book is fast paced, and holds the reader's attention as well as, if not better than, any work of fiction. Reasoner makes the reader feel as if he or she is right there in the middle of the events he describes, while at the same time remaining true to the facts of the events, without exaggeration. This makes for a book that is both entertaining and enlightening, and never dull.

DRAW is a must read for any student, serious or casual, of the history of the American West, or for anyone who just enjoys good cowboy or lawman versus outlaw stories. As the back cover blurb says: "These are the shoot-outs and showdowns that gave the Wild West its name...recounted here with gritty accuracy, colorful detail, and all the drama of life--and death--on the frontier". This is one of those rare works that lives up in its entirety to the publisher's hype. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: A Thoroughly Researched, Fascinating Study
Review: DRAW, as its title indicates, is a study of many of the more famous gunfights and gunfighters of the Old West. It's James Reasoner's first non-fiction work, and it's a winner.

DRAW is well researched, and contains many little known anecdotes about the colorful characters that populate its pages (for example, gunfighter Clay Allison, was wont, when drunk, to strip off his clothes, and wearing nothing but his boots and hat, gallop his horse through town, shooting out windows and streetlights). The book is fast paced, and holds the reader's attention as well as, if not better than, any work of fiction. Reasoner makes the reader feel as if he or she is right there in the middle of the events he describes, while at the same time remaining true to the facts of the events, without exaggeration. This makes for a book that is both entertaining and enlightening, and never dull.

DRAW is a must read for any student, serious or casual, of the history of the American West, or for anyone who just enjoys good cowboy or lawman versus outlaw stories. As the back cover blurb says: "These are the shoot-outs and showdowns that gave the Wild West its name...recounted here with gritty accuracy, colorful detail, and all the drama of life--and death--on the frontier". This is one of those rare works that lives up in its entirety to the publisher's hype. I highly recommend it.