Draw: The Greatest Gunfights of the American West Book

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?