2 years ago
Whats the best book about the Old West you've read?
About either the outlaws of the time or the setting. My favorite was Guns of the old West. Books with at leasts some illustrations are the best.
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M$1 Answer
If we are talking about non-fiction books, then I have a number of personal favorites that have sought to flesh out the truth abut the way things were in the Wild West. Popular dime novels of the time sought to glorify and fictionalize events of the time so much, that true historical accounts of the time are a rare and great find. Then again, history is just like science, and the search for truth is never-ending.
One of the greatest books of the time that I have ever read is "Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Misery: Prostitutes in the American West" by Anne Butler. This book represents the struggles and hardships of women of the time, often in a graphic manner, with a great deal of images of girls of the red light district during this time. The book exposes the high prevalence of homosexuality among prostitutes and the impact of substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexually transmitted diseases.
"Upstairs Girls: Prostitution in the American West" by Michael Rutter is a similar book to this, but I have not looked at that one yet.
A couple of other close seconds would be "Calamity Jane: The Woman and the Legend" by James D. McLaird, "The Real Deadwood: True Life Histories of Will Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, Outlaw Towns, and Other Characters of the Lawless West" by John Edward Ames, and nearly ANYTHING about Doc Holliday.
I also read a number of books about the outlaw Jesse James, and although these books are more post-civil war midwest accounts, there are some great stories in nearly all of these books that open up a number of real-life mysteries to solve.
One of the greatest books of the time that I have ever read is "Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Misery: Prostitutes in the American West" by Anne Butler. This book represents the struggles and hardships of women of the time, often in a graphic manner, with a great deal of images of girls of the red light district during this time. The book exposes the high prevalence of homosexuality among prostitutes and the impact of substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexually transmitted diseases.
"Upstairs Girls: Prostitution in the American West" by Michael Rutter is a similar book to this, but I have not looked at that one yet.
A couple of other close seconds would be "Calamity Jane: The Woman and the Legend" by James D. McLaird, "The Real Deadwood: True Life Histories of Will Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, Outlaw Towns, and Other Characters of the Lawless West" by John Edward Ames, and nearly ANYTHING about Doc Holliday.
I also read a number of books about the outlaw Jesse James, and although these books are more post-civil war midwest accounts, there are some great stories in nearly all of these books that open up a number of real-life mysteries to solve.
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