- Hardcover: 197 pages
- Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press; Annotated edition edition (30 April 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0806132272
- ISBN-13: 978-0806132273
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 16.3 x 2.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,218,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Twelve decades after Billy the Kid's death in 1881, books, movies, and essays about this western outlaw are still popular. And they all go back to one source: The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid, published in 1882 by the man who killed Billy, Sheriff Pat Garrett. Frederick Nolan, an authority on the American Southwest, examines the legends introduced by The Authentic Life and shows how Garrett's book is responsible for misconceptions about the Kid's early life and his short, violent career. Many inaccuracies in The Authentic Life can be attributed to a ghostwriter, Marshall Ashmun "Ash" Upson, but Garrett's contributions also are flawed. As Nolan reveals, the sheriff glossed over events that made him look less than perfect. This new edition, complete with the original text, corrects Upson's errors, amplifies Garrett's narrative, and elucidates the causes and course of the Lincoln County War in New Mexico during the 1870s. Nolan provides an introduction that reappraises the last fatal meeting of Garrett and Billy the Kid, as well as a postscript about the snakebitten life of the sheriff after the moment that made him famous.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
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6 reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, Revisited
21 Oct 2000
Format:Hardcover
Frederick Nolan is one of the most prolific living writers on the economic strife in Lincon County, New Mexico commonly known as "the War".
The Pat Garrett version of the War was almost entirely written by Roswell postmaster, Ash Upson, and was designed to improve Garrett's lot in the eyes of history as well as to further his political fortune. Consequently, Garrett's version has always been suspect amoung serious historical scholars although it is one of the most frequently quoted sources of "facts" related to the Kid. Garrett's seemingly singlehanded resolution of the problem by killing the Kid after the two primary proponents of the Regulator faction, John Henery Tunstall and Alexander McSween, were killed by members of the Murphy, Fritz and Dolan faction, is placed into historical prespective by Dolan's meticulous research and readable language..
Nolan's writing and research tracking the actual chronology of the War based on the Garrett version not only is designed to set the record straight historically; but also demonstrates the true facts giving rise to the War are at least as fascinating as the legends.
The Lincoln County War has been referred to as the largest civil insurrection in the history of the United States, reaching right into the halls of Congress and the White House.
Readers of Dolan's annotated responses to the Garrett version will appeal to serious history buffs and the casual reader of western history about one of the true legends of the old west.
Robert Beauvais
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Good mix of history and myth-busting
9 Feb 2001
Format:Hardcover
Frederick Nolan's annonations to Pat Garrett's famous book do an excellent job of debunking many of the oft-repeated myths about Billy the Kid. I especially like the fact that Nolan occasionally ranges beyond Garrett's book itself to discuss how these Billy the Kid myths have been portrayed by later books and films. His commentary also helps fill in some of the background details about the Lincoln County war. You should note that I said "details," however; if you've never read about the Lincoln County war, this work probably isn't the ideal introduction to that messy, complicated affair. Nolan mostly seems to assume his readers are already at least mildly acquainted with the major events, places and people involved in the Lincoln County war. I also sometimes found myself wishing Nolan had annonated a bit more extensively (there are some entire chapters -- albeit very short ones -- through which he offers no commentary). The book's layout, while reasonably clear and clean, sometimes leaves a bit to be desired, with Nolan's notes often falling on different pages than the original text he's commenting upon.
5 of 9 people found the following review helpful
A hit and miss book on Billy the Kid.
11 July 2006
Format:Hardcover
This book was written by a ghost writer for Pat Garrett and set the stage for future Billy the Kid authors. The book is fictionalized in many places in an attempt to make the book flow better and to make the book more interesting. But, since the book was co-authored by Garrett, succeeding authors used it as a reference thinking he knew the kid well. But, Garrett did not know Billy as well as he led people to believe. The really good things about the book are the areas talking about Garrett's own experiences. But, the reader needs to be careful and not believe everything they read in this book. It could hurt them when reading more factual accounts of Billy's life in the future.
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