Comanche

Civil War #1

by J.T. Edson

This is the story of a Comanche warrior from birth until the day he rides off on his first war trail. It tells how he learned those things a brave-heart warrior must know; how to ride any horse ever foaled; to be skilled in the use of weapons; to follow tracks and locate hidden enemies; the way a man might move in silence and undetected; where to find food upon the Texas plains, and many other things. He built a name among his people by tangling with Piamempits, the Big Cannibal Owl, when only seven years old. At twelve he became the first Comanche to have had two Give-Away Dances in his honor at that age. Before reaching his fourteenth birthday he had counted coup on his first human enemy. His grandfather was Long Walker, famed war chief in the Pehnane band of the Comanche nation. Although the Pehnane medicine man named him Loncey Dalton Ysabel, to his people he was Cuchilo, the Knife. When the Mexicans along the Rio Grande came to know him, they called him el Cabrito, the Kid. Among the Texans he gained yet another name . . . they called him the Ysabel Kid. ABOUT THE AUTHOR John Thomas Edson was born at Worksop, Nottinghamshire, on February 17 1928, the son of a miner who was killed in an accident when John was nine. He left Shirebrook Selective Central School at 14 to work in a stone quarry and joined the Army four years later. As a sergeant in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, Edson served in Kenya during the Emergency, on one occasion killing five Mau Mau on patrol. He started writing in Hong Kong, and when he won a large cash prize in a tombola he invested in a typewriter. On coming out of the Army after 12 years with a wife and children to support, Edson learned his craft while running a fish-and-chip shop and working on the production line at a local pet food factory. His efforts paid off when Trail Boss (1961) won second prize in a competition with a promise of publication and an outright payment of £50. The publishers offered £25 more for each subsequent book, and with the addition of earnings from serial-writing for the comic Victor, Edson was able to settle down to professional authorship. When the comic's owners decided that nobody read cowboy stories any more, he was forced to get a job as a postman (the job had the by-product of enabling him to lose six stone in weight from his original 18). Edson's prospects improved when Corgi Books took over his publisher, encouraged him to produce seven books a year and promised him royalties for the first time. In 1974 he made his first visit to the United States, to which he was to return regularly in search of reference books. He declared that he had no desire to live in the Wild West, "I've never even been on a horse. I've seen those things, and they look highly dangerous at both ends and bloody uncomfortable in the middle. My only contact was to shoot them for dog meat." His heroes were often based on his favourite film stars, so that Dusty Fog resembled Audie Murphy, and the Ysabel Kid was an amalgam of Elvis Presley in Flaming Star and Jack Buetel in The Outlaw. Before becoming a recluse in his last years, JT's favourite boast was that Melton Mowbray was famous for three "The pie, Stilton cheese and myself but not necessarily in that order."

Genres: Westerns

193 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

John Thomas Edson is an English writer of Westerns.

He was born in 1928.He was obsessed with Westerns from an early age and often "rewrote" cowboy movies that he had seen at the cinema. One thing that always intrigued him was the minutiae—how did the baddie's gun jam? What were the mechanics of cheating at cards? How did Westerners really dress and speak?

His writing was helped to develop by a schoolteacher who encouraged him. Now lives in Leicester, Leicestershire.[citation needed]

During his 20s and 30s, Edson served in His Majesty's Armed Forces for 12 years as a Dog Trainer. Cooped up in barracks for long periods, he devoured books by the great escapist writers (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert McCraig, Nelson C. Nye and Edgar Wallace). He also sat through hours of movies starring John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Errol Flynn and his all-time favourite, Audie Murphy.

His first appearance in print was "Hints On Self-Preservation when attacked by a War Dog" in the Osnabrück camp magazine Shufti in 1947. Acquiring a typewriter in the early 1950s and putting it to good use while posted to Hong Kong, by the time of his discharge he had written 10 Westerns, an early version of Bunduki and the first of the short detective-type stories starring Waco.

Upon leaving HM forces, JT won second prize (with Trail Boss) in the Western division of a Literary Competition run by Brown & Watson Ltd, which led to the publication of 46 novels with them, becoming a major earner for the company.

He had the need for supplementary income from time-to-time and also served as a postman, and the proprietor of a fish 'n' chip shop. Furthermore, he branched out as a writer and wrote five series of short stories (Dan Hollick, Dog Handler) for the Victor boys papers, and wrote the "box captions" for comic strips, which instilled discipline and the ability to convey maximum information with minimum words.


His writing career forged ahead when he joined Corgi Books in the late '60s, which gave JT exposure through a major publishing house, as well as the opportunity to branch out from the core Westerns into the Rockabye County, the science-fiction hero Bunduki and other series.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._T._Edson

Reviews

[Graham Tallents · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book about 45 years ago. I loved it then, and my opinion has not changed. It was my first J T Edson book and kicked off a fad that lasted many years. It may very well have done so again.

[Lutuf Ghantous · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very educational

The amount of research and cultural background render this book as an educational book about one tribe of the Indian Nation. I can assume that most of the other tribes have the same culture and traditions..I read part of this book to my 13 years grandson and fascinated I hope his dad will let him read the book. Mr Edson you are a great writer and I am looking forward for your other books.

[James Albert · Rating 2 out of 5]

👍👍👍👍

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Loved it all the way. As good as any Johnston or Lamour books I've read over my 66 years.

[larry brashear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Book!

Enjoyable adventures are abundant in this fine Novak of the old west. Well written but lacking in editing and that is why I gave it four stars!

[Ramakrishnan M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of the ysabel kid.. How he was born.. How he grew up etc... Not exactly the best book by j t edson... But not bad either

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book having bought it many years ago.dIsappointed in a way but I read it never the less. It was worth the read for the last part in the book.

[Keith Bott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book from start to finish. Couldn't put it down.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the introduction to the Isabel Kid. It tells is story as he grows up and earns the Commanche name Cuchilo. He learns the hard lessons in life which eventually lead to his fateful meeting with Dusty Fog

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best of all the J.T. Edson books I've read Described Lon's upbringing as a Commanche warrior.

[David Leagas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as i remembered all those years ago, slow to start but gets better as it goes on,just the start you need to Edson's many books.