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Title: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Old West by Mike Flanagan, Carl Waldman ISBN: 0-02-862945-0 Publisher: Alpha Books Pub. Date: 13 July, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (6 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Pretty good overview for beginners
Comment: I agree with other reviewers that there is a lot of ground covered here and covered well, but be aware that it's somewhat uneven. There is extensive information on individual gunmen and outlaws, yet the Comstock Lode rates only the equivalent of a footnote (even though the authors call it "the biggest mining discovery in American history"). This leads me to believe that the authors lent emphasis to what they believe are the "popular" Western subjects, rather than giving a complete and balanced overview.
I also noticed a couple of items I'd question. The authors state at one point that Council Bluffs is in Nebraska. Perhaps at the time the entire area was known as Council Bluffs, but in fact, Council Bluffs is and always has been on the Iowa side of the river. In another spot, I noticed two different dates given for a historical figure, only two paragraphs apart. These are minor errors (particularly since the book is a treasure trove of dates and data) and shouldn't keep anyone from purchasing the book and finding it as fascinating as I did, but one should bear these in mind if using this as an authoritative source and perhaps look for a second source for verification.
Certainly this is a great starting point for discovery of the American Old West, written in clear, entertaining style. It will introduce you to parts of American history you never knew existed. Treat this book, though, as a starting point and it will have served its purpose admirably.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Overview of the West and it's Development: Great Detail
Comment: If you are looking for an extensive overview of the west then this is your book. The surprise is that the book starts with the Bering Strait theory and the early Indian civilizations in North America. The book does not just start in the west but also the east since what occurred in the east affected the Indians all across our nation. Indian tribes moved from the east either through self migration to the west or forceful removal under Jackson's presidency. This forced move crowded other tribes such as the Sioux and Cheyenne into the plains plus created further tribal conflicts as land and game became competitive. Covers conflicts with the Indians from Cortez and Coronado's heavy and violent domination of the Indian tribes to Grant, Sheridan and Sherman's plan to subjugate the Plains Indians, the Apache, Nez Perce and northwestern tribes. Covers everything from the early mountain men, explorers, trails west, Indian conflicts, telegraph, stagecoaches, miners, gold, conquest of the black hills, James Gang, Quantrill, Tombstone and right up to the turn of the century.
The best part of the book are the detail of occurrences that may not be well known to many but are fascinating such as the Mountain Meadows Massacre of a wagon train by Indians with Brigham Young's Mormons orchestrating and actually participating in the horrible event. Jackson's forced removal of Native Americans is very sad particularly the civilized tribes who suffered great adversity and death.
Its very well laid out and covers it all and it's written with some cheeky comments. It's quite a history that includes all that happened in the west and events that impacted it. This so called Idiot's Guide is 400 pages of facts with excellent straightforward readable descriptions. Written with a sense of humor but with respect for tragedy. Love the western expression "Dunks sober up. Fools remain fools."
Rating: 4
Summary: For Budding Wild West Fans
Comment: I love the format of this along with other of the "Complete Idiot's" books. The publisher has come up with a formula that works. This is especially true with "The Old West" one. For those with a beginning interest in the Wild West, this is as good a book as you're going to find. It touches on the major figures in old west history and provides eye-catching sidebars that both interest and enlighten the reader. When I first looked at the book I felt it might have picked too wide a span of history to cover rather than focusing on the 19th century only. How do you explain American West history of 50,000 years ago? But it only spent a short time there so no harm done. What I liked about the entire book was Flanagan's writing style: informal but not flippant. The book's only flaw, which may be too strong a word, would be its "Further Reading" list. I found no entries for Glenn Shirley's books (Belle Starr, Law West of Ft. Smith, etc.; none for David Dary (perhaps the best one on cowboy culture); and none for Robert Utley (perhaps the best book on Billy the Kid). But then others might disagree. He did include many essentials such as Lamar's encyclopedia, O'Neal's encyclopedia, Rosa on Wild Bill, and Wellman's dynasty book. All in all there's no doubt this book is well worth reading.
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Title: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Native American History by Walter C. Fleming ISBN: 0028644697 Publisher: Alpha Books Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Lost Civilizations by Donald P. Ryan ISBN: 002862954X Publisher: Alpha Books Pub. Date: 27 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Nazi Germany by Robert Smith Thompson ISBN: 0028644751 Publisher: Alpha Books Pub. Date: 04 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Complete Idiot's Guide to World War I by Alan Axelrod, Walton Rawls ISBN: 0028639022 Publisher: Alpha Books Pub. Date: 06 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the American Revolution by Alan Axelrod ISBN: 0028633792 Publisher: Alpha Books Pub. Date: 16 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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