The must-have companion to Bill O’Reilly’s historic series Legends and Lies: The Real West, a fascinating, eye-opening look at the truth behind the western legends we all think we know
How did Davy Crockett save President Jackson’s life only to end up dying at the Alamo? Was the Lone Ranger based on a real lawman-and was he an African American? What amazing detective work led to the capture of Black Bart, the “gentleman bandit” and one of the west’s most famous stagecoach robbers? Did Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid really die in a hail of bullets in South America? Generations of Americans have grown up on TV shows, movies and books about these western icons. But what really happened in the Wild West? All the stories you think you know, and others that will astonish you, are here–some heroic, some brutal and bloody, all riveting. Included are the legends featured in Bill O’Reilly’s ten week run of historic episodic specials-from Kit Carson to Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickok to Doc Holliday– accompanied by two bonus chapters on Daniel Boone and Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley.
Frontier America was a place where instinct mattered more than education, and courage was necessary for survival. It was a place where luck made a difference and legends were made. Heavily illustrated with spectacular artwork that further brings this history to life, and told in fast-paced, immersive narrative, Legends and Lies is an irresistible, adventure-packed ride back into one of the most storied era of our nation’s rich history.
Required Reading. One of O’Reilly’s best works…engaging, enlightening, a fantastic read.
The “real” Old West! I have always been fascinated with the Old West, loving both the “fantasy” Old West with the Lone Ranger and the “gritty” Old West like Deadwood. Bill O’ Reilly here turns his attention to the ‘real” Old West, and writes a fascinating book. He interviews the relatives and descendants of the Heroes and Villains of the West, with interesting results. Davy Crockett, The Lone Ranger, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Black Bart (the PO8), Kit Carson, Jesse James, Wild Bill…
A great book of legendary westerners with beautiful illustrations; O’Reilly as a straightforward historian Unlike his Killing series which often courted controversy at the expense of accuracy, Legends is a straightforward historical book which delves into many of the biggest figures and legends in the early West. Touching on people like Davy Crockett (who saved President Jackson’s life only to end up dying at the Alamo), the real life version of the Lone Ranger, Butch Cassidy, Black Bart, and others, O’Reilly delves into the myths of these legendary figures which most Americans have already been…