Draw: The Greatest Gunfights of the American West

by James Reasoner

James Reasoner has been praised for his well-researched and lively, suspenseful novels. Now, he proves that truth can be even more exciting than fiction. Known for his ability to make history come vividly to life, Reasoner strips away the dime novel legends and Hollywood myths to show us how the gunfighters of the Old West really lived, killed-and were killed. Among the true stories he brings us:

€ Doc Holliday's Last Gunfight € The Last Dalton Raid € The End of the Notorious John Wesley Hardin € Wild Bill's Tragic Mistake € The End of an Earp € Gunfight at Stone Corral € The Doolin Bunch vs. the U.S. Marshals € Rourke's Bad Luck Robbery € Shoot-out at the Tuttle Dance Hall € Wichita's New Year's Day Gunfight € Bat Masterson and the Battle of the Plaza € The Sam Bass Gang's Luck Runs Out € The Long Branch Saloon's Spectacular Fray € Ben Thompson and the Vaudeville Ambush € The Man Who Killed the Man Who Killed Jesse James

These are the shootouts 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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Westerns, American History, Biography Memoir

320 pages, Paperback

First published December 2, 2003

Reviews

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book. This is a set of stories doing it's best to relate factual tales of gun fights in the American west. Of course few of these gun fights were the "classical Hollywood shootout.

Some writers confidently state that one of these, "two men meet in the street and draw" fights never happened. Actually a couple did. I already knew of "Bill" (James Butler)Hickok's shoot out over a watch. That story isn't in this book, but Jim Levy's is.

Here you'll find outlaws, lawmen, back-shooters....ladies of the evening and all manner of other characters. It's a pretty good book making no claims to be the end all and be all of historical documents it still has reliable sources. If you like westerns and Western History or either, you'll probably like this one.

[Hilary "Fox" · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a deep and unending love of westerns. There's something so unbelievable about the truth behind the legends of that time, the fact that so many were drawn from what truly happened and nowhere near as embellished as one might think. There's a wildness to the stories, and yes, a romance even behind the crazed sociopaths that ran across the country and territories with guns blazing. So many thought they were in the right - so many courts acquitted them accordingly. How was this only a few generations ago?

Draw: The Greatest Gunfights of the American West is a surprisingly slim volume that goes into far more detail than one might expect. Between these pages are indeed summaries of the greatest gunfights, histories of those involved, and a bit of speculation on the part of the author about the circumstances. There are fascinating asides now and then, and even a few pictures. I learned a lot from this volume, as it seeks to dig into more than just the 'old favorites'. I was particularly pleased to see the absurd story of the execution of Black Jack Ketchum included, as his has a particularly gruesome ending that never ceases to amuse.

This book is darkly humorous, and I read it with the same surprise I tend to view these stories. It was so recent in the past, and so insane a time. How many died over trivial things? How many were shot just for snoring too loud, or by accident? I'm only amazed that there weren't more civilian casualties in all the mad shoot-outs. Then again, the civilians more often than not were involved in them... Isn't it incredible we lived through such a time?

[Gerald Kinro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up watching reading about famous gunfighters of the west and watching them on television...Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill, the Daltons, Bat Masterson and more. Some of these gunfighters were unfamiliar to me, so this was a great learning experience as well. It was indeed the Wild West as gun toters were quicker to shoot an adversary first. Very seldom they depended on their fists. This book was very entertaining to me as it brought back my childhood when life was life was a lot more simple. Despite being a work of non-fiction,Reasoner is able to bring the characters to life with good description and good action.

[Sara Donaldson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-structured and well-written book that really gets into the heart of America's 'Wild West'.
James has obviously researched the stories and his passion is conveyed through his entertaining writing. Not once did I get bored - something that can happen easily with a non-fiction book that relies heavily on anecdote and an amount of imagination to bring the text to life.
I would have liked to have seen an index, and research using more contemporary texts, but these probably don't exist.
I'd recommend this to anyone with an interest in the old gunslingers.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy reading with an interesting layout. Reasoner has compiled a selection of supposedly actual shootouts and listed them under six separate parts or categories, starting with "Man to Man" for the first category and ending with "Gunfighting Mishaps and Misfortunes". Anyone who has dabbled in the reading of western non-fiction will be familiar with most of these six-gun shenanigans.

Naturally, the accounts as related by Reasoner vary from the versions provided by other sources, but who's to say which is the correct version (if any)? One is reminded of the quote from the John Wayne movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: "This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."

[Sue Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Western history

I have always enjoyed western history and the author has brought together some rare and amazing tales. truth is stranger than fiction the account of a gun fight in which the bullet from the marshals gun went by luck down the other man's gun and the two bullets met distorting the barrel in
1917. Each chapter is a different person well written in an informal style would recommend.

[Adhara Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a good book, although for me it treated its subject matter a little bit too superficially for my taste. However, I suspect that was its intention – to interest those uninterested, and to provide as much insight as possible into various interesting stories from the Old West. Pleasantly written. I'd love to read a more detailed version.
I especially loved the story about Pittman vs Lopez, as I never heard about this one before!

[julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Przyjemna ale dupy nie urywa. Męczyłam ją prawie dwa lata ale no przez to, że każdy rozdział jest o czymś innym to jakoś bardzo mi to nie przeszkadzało. Spoko, bo akcja za każdym razem toczyła się wartko. Trochę miałam problem z pamięcią niektórych postaci, jak się epizodycznie pojawiały w innych rozdziałach ale ogólnie takie 6/10.

[Mick Meyers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book covering some of the lesser known Gunfights.also quite a bit of I didn't know that in each chapter.all in all the gunslingers or guns were not very accurate and was a case of being not only fast but lucky.

[Rafał Świerczyński · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historia westernu, jaki znamy z filmów - strzelaniny i wielkie postaci. Autor w przyjemny sposób opisuje największe wydarzenia, jednocześnie porównując świat westernu wykreowany przez branżę rozrywki do tego, jak na prawdę się wtedy żyło.

[Dulce McKone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short stories! Really enjoyed it!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a fan of westerns and stories of the Old West for a while so I thought it time I got a book on the real history. The author is honest about areas where the historical information is lacking, or contested, and it gives a good overview of the famous names and fights throughout the Old West's lively history (although the gunfight at the O.K. Corral is only mentioned in passing!).

I do object to the author's writing style though. He's obviously trying to keep the language consistent with the time, but it comes over as twee. Phrases like "varnishing his tonsils with bottled courage" made me cringe. He also tries too hard to set the scene when there is no information available. Descriptions like "The air was probably hot and muggy. Sweat may well have popped out on Pitman's forehead" are just ridiculous and unnecessary.

A good read though, certainly gave me some names and places to look into further.

[Matt Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for history buffs and fans of westerns. Reasoner makes these stories come to life as if you were watching it on film. The notorious and the good guys are brought out of the cloud of legend and placed firmly back on earth; real men with real emotions fighting to all-too-soon death.

Each chapter could be its own short story. While it could get mundane that each one begins at the moment of action then goes back to pick up the backstory that got us to the current situation, each story was edge-of-the-seat action. My only complaint is that the book was too short. There were so many stories and characters I had never heard before. He didn't talk about the OK Corral or any of the other ones that are household names, but he made all the stories he related just as exciting.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poorly written, the author is not convincing in dramatising the events contained in this book and the entire narrative is littered with uncertainty. Frankly, I think the book warrants one star at best, except that despite its many flaws I really enjoyed it. On the rare occasions I get to sit and take a lunch break at work, the next tale of the Wild West was about the perfect bite size and it is definitely to my meal breaks' detriment that I've finished this book. Crap airport trash reading, but GOOD crap airport trash reading.

[Brian Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone knows about the gunfight at the OK corral, but this book looks at the smaller incidents, and tries to put a human touch to them.

A wide range of characters and situations told well.

Ideal as scenario ideas for RPG players (anyone remember TSR's Boot Hill?) or wargamers using Legends of the Old West, Gutshot!, Blackwater Gulch etc.

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Breezy, lightweight recaps of the greatest gunfights of the American West, as the subtitle says. Pretty much sums it up. No detailed historical research, plenty of gunslingers gives this the feel of fiction, and Reasoner's intro does say that he (a well-known novelist) did write toward drama if there was any question about the facts.

Don't worry about it, just enjoy it.

[Kellen 2010-2011 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found draw to be very i exiting and to be fun to read. BUT if you dont know a big word here and there you might not be able to read this. :) :) B)m :D :) :)

[Nico Meyering · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engrossing book, well-written and factual. A good source if you're looking to beef up a college history paper.

[Charlie Arnold · Rating 4 out of 5]

good

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have ever read. It is such an amazing read. In fact, I loved this book so much that I stretched it out as long as possible as I didn't want it to end.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book about some famous gunfights in the West and what really happened not the movie versions of wrong facts.