Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This book repeats as fact some of the same old myths and lies that have plagued these characters for years (Hickok killed 36 people? Really? There have only been about a half dozen deaths actually documented) but then, it is written for a popular audience, not the serious researcher. It is exhausting, however, to once again see the same sloppy "research" reported as fact. This sloth extends to the internal narrative; the book routinely contradicts itself, which means the writer and editor are not only ignorant, but are also too lazy to proof their own material. Here's a novel suggestion: don't write a history book unless it contributes something new, especially when dealing with an area that has been well plowed by far better writers and far better researchers for many years. At the very least, hire a ghostwriter who has a little knowledge of the subject, will actually read what he has written, and goes a little deeper than Wikipedia when looking for source material. For this project, you might actually have to go outside New York City, God forbid, to find somebody who has a passing knowledge of the American West. All that being said, what is REALLY annoying is to see the same cavalier approach taken with the photos in the book. Doc Holliday was never photographed with a bowler hat, it was a joke composite put together by a photographer a few years ago as every Holliday researcher knows - yet there he is, bowler and all, in this book. Bill's other picture of Doc was actually the cover story of True West magazine a few years back, which went into great detail about the fraudulent nature of the image. Yet, what head shot does Bill say is that of Doc? You guessed it. The two guys identified as Frank and Jesse James aren't, as every knowledgeable James authority has been screaming for years every time this stupid photo turns up in the book of some "historian." Captain Jack Crawford is identified as Buffalo Bill. James Hume is identified as Black Bart. Buildings are misidentified in a shot of Tombstone, Arizona. Incredibly, a painting is identified as a photograph. Etc., etc., ad nauseum. I realize that - except for history nerds - most people don't care about this stuff; but if you are going to pretend you're an expert and write a book about something, at least have enough knowledge about the subject to get the photos right, or hire a ghostwriter/photo editor who has a clue. It is clear that Bill now fancies himself a historian, hiring writers to churn out product on a regular basis whose main purpose seems to be to enrich the mini-industrial complex that is Bill O'Reilly. We expect low-quality screeds from current affairs and political writers, which is Bill's accustomed genre, and one in which the material is generally opinion. But, Bill - this is our HISTORY. Show a little respect, pretend to care, and do some actual research - or don't bother. 9/13/15 Update: Some reviewers apparently feel I'm being to hard on poor Bill, accusing me of political bias or being agenda driven. For the record, I couldn't care less about Bill's politics. I do have an agenda, though: historical accuracy in a book that purports to be historically accurate. I further deplore slipshod scholarship and lazy writing, for which this book is the poster child. Let's take just a few excerpts from the Wild Bill chapter as an example. I found these nuggets of error/incompetence in just five minutes of leafing through the chapter. On page 92, he is called by his real name, James Butler Hickok. But on page 95, he is now suddenly named William Hickok. He did not actually utilize a cross draw as claimed on page 97, but the old twist-wrist plains draw of the early frontiersmen as has been clearly documented by actual researchers. On page 95, his probably fictional fight with a bear is apparently reported as fact - although the writing is so sloppy it's hard to tell. Ditto with his fanciful Civil War exploits on page 98. Also on page 95, O'Reilly's ghost writer has Hickok shooting someone named Roberts at Rock Creek - except that in reality there wasn't actually anybody named Roberts at Rock Creek. In all likelihood, Hickok never confronted John Wesley Hardin, although that encounter is reported as fact on page 105. On page 112, it is claimed that Wild Bill was credited with "thirty-six righteous shootings," whatever that means. Really? By whom? How about using the documented number of about a half dozen? The factual errors and internal inconsistencies in this one chapter are legion, and every chapter has the same problem. Sorry, guys - while fun to read, this book is simply bad history.