Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
Audiobook14 hours
Ride the Devil's Herd: Wyatt Earp's Epic Battle Against the West's Biggest Outlaw Gang
Written by John Boessenecker
Narrated by Stephen Graybill
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
The little-known story of how a young Wyatt Earp, aided by his brothers, defeated the Cowboys, the Old West’s biggest outlaw gang.
Wyatt Earp is regarded as the most famous lawman of the Old West, best known for his role in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. But the story of his two-year war with a band of outlaws known as the Cowboys has never been told in full.
The Cowboys were the largest outlaw gang in the history of the American West. After battles with the law in Texas and New Mexico, they shifted their operations to Arizona. There, led by Curly Bill Brocius, they ruled the border, robbing, rustling, smuggling and killing with impunity until they made the fatal mistake of tangling with the Earp brothers.
Drawing on groundbreaking research into territorial and federal government records, John Boessenecker’s Ride the Devil’s Herd reveals a time and place in which homicide rates were fifty times higher than those today. The story still bears surprising relevance for contemporary America, involving hot-button issues such as gang violence, border security, unlawful immigration, the dangers of political propagandists parading as journalists, and the prosecution of police officers for carrying out their official duties. Wyatt Earp saw it all in Tombstone.
Wyatt Earp is regarded as the most famous lawman of the Old West, best known for his role in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. But the story of his two-year war with a band of outlaws known as the Cowboys has never been told in full.
The Cowboys were the largest outlaw gang in the history of the American West. After battles with the law in Texas and New Mexico, they shifted their operations to Arizona. There, led by Curly Bill Brocius, they ruled the border, robbing, rustling, smuggling and killing with impunity until they made the fatal mistake of tangling with the Earp brothers.
Drawing on groundbreaking research into territorial and federal government records, John Boessenecker’s Ride the Devil’s Herd reveals a time and place in which homicide rates were fifty times higher than those today. The story still bears surprising relevance for contemporary America, involving hot-button issues such as gang violence, border security, unlawful immigration, the dangers of political propagandists parading as journalists, and the prosecution of police officers for carrying out their official duties. Wyatt Earp saw it all in Tombstone.
Author
John Boessenecker
John Boessenecker is the author of twelve books, including New York Times bestseller Texas Ranger. He has received the Spur award from Western Writers of America, the Best Book award from Westerners International, and in 2011, 2013 and 2019 True West named him Best Nonfiction Writer. He has appeared frequently as a historical commentator on PBS, The History Channel, A&E, and other media. He lives near San Francisco, California.
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Reviews for Ride the Devil's Herd
Rating: 4.382352941176471 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
51 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very precise and well researched. It seems to tell the truth about this historical time in America’s history. Separating fact from fiction
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The book was mistitled! Enough said. Not worth the read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Balanced, informative and very well written. A reminder of how wild the west really was.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learned a lot, well read and very interesting. I would highly recommend for anyone interested in the old west.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Well this book managed something I thought was impossible: to take one of the most nuanced, multi-layered, and exciting stories in the history of the American west, the subject of multiple novels and movies, and make it tedious and a slog to get through.By trying to add more detail to the “bad guy” cow-boys Boessenecker gets bogged down in minutiae that is irrelevant to the main narrative and the early stages of the book becomes a blur of names and places that’s difficult to follow even for an Earp-geek like me who knows the story in detail.It’s almost a relief when we get to the main event gunfight, but even that seems lacking in any passion. There’s nothing new here for the Earp-scholar, and unfortunately for the casual reader it is devalued by an unnecessary political rant in the last few pages.