-
Thunder in the West
- The Life and Legends of Billy the Kid, Volume 32 (The Oklahoma Western Biographies)
- Narrated by: Jack de Golia
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Billy the Kid - born Henry McCarty in 1859, and also known as William H. Bonney - emerges from this audio in all his complexity, at once a gentleman and gregarious companion and a thief and violent murderer. Tapping new depths of research, Etulain traces Billy’s short life from his mysterious origins in the East through his wanderings in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. As we move from his peripatetic early years through the wild West to his fatal involvement in the Lincoln County Wars, we see the impressionable boy give way to the conflicted young man and, finally, to the opportunistic and often amoral outlaw who was out for himself, for revenge, and for whatever he could steal along the way.
Against this deftly drawn portrait, Richard W. Etulain considers the stories and myths spawned by Billy’s life and death. Beginning with the dime novels featuring Billy the Kid, even during his lifetime, and ranging across the myriad newspaper accounts, novels, and movies that alternately celebrated his outlaw life and condemned his exploits, Etulain offers a uniquely informed view of the changing interpretations that have shaped and reshaped the reputation of this enduring icon of the Old West.
The book is published by University of Oklahoma Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Dodge City
- Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West
- By: Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dodge City, Kansas, is a place of legend. The town that started as a small military site exploded with the coming of the railroad, cattle drives, eager miners, settlers, and various entrepreneurs passing through to populate the expanding West. Before long Dodge City's streets were lined with saloons and brothels, and its populace was thick with gunmen, horse thieves, and desperadoes of every sort. By the 1870s, Dodge City was known as the most violent and turbulent town in the West.
-
-
The Real Life Story of Dodge City
- By Jean on 03-26-17
By: Tom Clavin
-
Billy the Kid
- The Endless Ride
- By: Michael Wallis
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning historian Michael Wallis has spent several years re-creating the rich, anecdotal saga of Billy the Kid (1859-1881), a deeply mythologized young man who became a legend in his own time and yet remains an enigma to this day. With the Gilded Age in full swing and the Industrial Revolution reshaping the American landscape, "the Kid", who was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the New Mexico Territory at the age of 21, became a new breed of celebrity outlaw.
-
-
Disappointing
- By MJTCPA on 07-30-11
By: Michael Wallis
-
To Hell on a Fast Horse
- The Untold Story of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett
- By: Mark Lee Gardner
- Narrated by: Graham Rowat, Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billy the Kid - a.k.a. Henry McCarty, Henry Antrim, and William Bonney - was a horse thief, cattle rustler, charismatic rogue, and cold-blooded killer. A superb shot, the Kid gunned down four men single-handedly and five others with the help of cronies. Two of his victims were Lincoln County, New Mexico, deputies, killed during the Kid's brazen daylight escape from the courthouse jail on April 28, 1881.
-
-
Great Listen
- By Susan Stilley on 10-06-21
By: Mark Lee Gardner
-
Frontiers
- A Short History of the American West
- By: Robert V. Hine, John Mack Faragher
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Published in 2000 to critical acclaim, The American West: A New Interpretive History quickly became the standard in college history courses. Now Robert V. Hine and John Mack Faragher offer a concise edition of their classic, freshly updated. Lauded for their lively and elegant writing, the authors provide a grand survey of the colorful history of the American West, from the first contacts between Native Americans and Europeans to the beginning of the 21st century.
-
-
Unbiased account of history.
- By Ted Yoder Music on 07-23-15
By: Robert V. Hine, and others
-
Doc Holliday
- The Life and Legend
- By: Gary L. Roberts
- Narrated by: Arthur Flavell
- Length: 19 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend, the historian Gary Roberts takes aim at the most complex, perplexing, and paradoxical gunfighter of the Old West, drawing on more than 20 years of research - including new primary sources - in his quest to separate the life from the legend. Doc Holliday was a study in contrasts: the legendary gunslinger who made his living as a dentist; the emaciated consumptive whose very name struck fear in the hearts of his enemies
-
-
“Watch Tombstone?” You are an idiot
- By Richard on 05-02-20
By: Gary L. Roberts
-
Billy the Kid
- El Bandido Simpático
- By: James B. Mills
- Narrated by: Chaz Allen
- Length: 22 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James B. Mills has left no stone unturned in his 20-year quest to tell the complete story of Billy the Kid. He explores the Kid’s disputable origins, his family’s migration from New York into the Southwest, and how he became an orphan, as well as his involvement in the Lincoln County War, his outlaw exploits, and his dealings with Governor Lew Wallace. Mills illuminates the Kid’s relationships with his enemies, lovers, and numerous friends to contextualize the man’s character beyond his death and legacy.
-
-
Extremely accurate historical account!
- By Lance on 10-20-24
By: James B. Mills
-
Dodge City
- Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West
- By: Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dodge City, Kansas, is a place of legend. The town that started as a small military site exploded with the coming of the railroad, cattle drives, eager miners, settlers, and various entrepreneurs passing through to populate the expanding West. Before long Dodge City's streets were lined with saloons and brothels, and its populace was thick with gunmen, horse thieves, and desperadoes of every sort. By the 1870s, Dodge City was known as the most violent and turbulent town in the West.
-
-
The Real Life Story of Dodge City
- By Jean on 03-26-17
By: Tom Clavin
-
Billy the Kid
- The Endless Ride
- By: Michael Wallis
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning historian Michael Wallis has spent several years re-creating the rich, anecdotal saga of Billy the Kid (1859-1881), a deeply mythologized young man who became a legend in his own time and yet remains an enigma to this day. With the Gilded Age in full swing and the Industrial Revolution reshaping the American landscape, "the Kid", who was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the New Mexico Territory at the age of 21, became a new breed of celebrity outlaw.
-
-
Disappointing
- By MJTCPA on 07-30-11
By: Michael Wallis
-
To Hell on a Fast Horse
- The Untold Story of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett
- By: Mark Lee Gardner
- Narrated by: Graham Rowat, Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billy the Kid - a.k.a. Henry McCarty, Henry Antrim, and William Bonney - was a horse thief, cattle rustler, charismatic rogue, and cold-blooded killer. A superb shot, the Kid gunned down four men single-handedly and five others with the help of cronies. Two of his victims were Lincoln County, New Mexico, deputies, killed during the Kid's brazen daylight escape from the courthouse jail on April 28, 1881.
-
-
Great Listen
- By Susan Stilley on 10-06-21
By: Mark Lee Gardner
-
Frontiers
- A Short History of the American West
- By: Robert V. Hine, John Mack Faragher
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Published in 2000 to critical acclaim, The American West: A New Interpretive History quickly became the standard in college history courses. Now Robert V. Hine and John Mack Faragher offer a concise edition of their classic, freshly updated. Lauded for their lively and elegant writing, the authors provide a grand survey of the colorful history of the American West, from the first contacts between Native Americans and Europeans to the beginning of the 21st century.
-
-
Unbiased account of history.
- By Ted Yoder Music on 07-23-15
By: Robert V. Hine, and others
-
Doc Holliday
- The Life and Legend
- By: Gary L. Roberts
- Narrated by: Arthur Flavell
- Length: 19 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend, the historian Gary Roberts takes aim at the most complex, perplexing, and paradoxical gunfighter of the Old West, drawing on more than 20 years of research - including new primary sources - in his quest to separate the life from the legend. Doc Holliday was a study in contrasts: the legendary gunslinger who made his living as a dentist; the emaciated consumptive whose very name struck fear in the hearts of his enemies
-
-
“Watch Tombstone?” You are an idiot
- By Richard on 05-02-20
By: Gary L. Roberts
-
Billy the Kid
- El Bandido Simpático
- By: James B. Mills
- Narrated by: Chaz Allen
- Length: 22 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James B. Mills has left no stone unturned in his 20-year quest to tell the complete story of Billy the Kid. He explores the Kid’s disputable origins, his family’s migration from New York into the Southwest, and how he became an orphan, as well as his involvement in the Lincoln County War, his outlaw exploits, and his dealings with Governor Lew Wallace. Mills illuminates the Kid’s relationships with his enemies, lovers, and numerous friends to contextualize the man’s character beyond his death and legacy.
-
-
Extremely accurate historical account!
- By Lance on 10-20-24
By: James B. Mills
-
The Feud
- The Hatfields and McCoys: The True Story
- By: Dean King
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Filled with bitter quarrels, reckless affairs, treacherous betrayals, relentless mercenaries, and courageous detectives, The Feud is the riveting story of two frontier families struggling for survival within the narrow confines of an unforgiving land. It is a formative American tale, and in it, we see the reflection of our own family bonds and the lengths to which we might go in order to defend our honor, our loyalties, and our livelihood.
-
-
Get out the pad and pencil .....
- By Alan on 10-15-13
By: Dean King
-
Doc
- A Novel
- By: Mary Doria Russell
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 1878, peak of the Texas cattle trade. The place is Dodge City, Kansas, a saloon-filled cow town jammed with liquored-up adolescent cowboys and young Irish hookers. Violence is random and routine, but when the burned body of a mixed-blood boy named Johnnie Sanders is discovered, his death shocks a part-time policeman named Wyatt Earp. And it is a matter of strangely personal importance to Doc Holliday, the frail 26-year-old dentist who has just opened an office at No. 24, Dodge House.
-
-
Great writing and narration
- By Dennis on 06-02-11
-
In the Shadow of Billy the Kid
- Susan McSween and the Lincoln County War
- By: Kathleen P. Chamberlain
- Narrated by: Karen Commins
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The events of July 19, 1878, marked the beginning of what became known as the Lincoln County War and catapulted Susan McSween and a young cowboy named Henry McCarty, alias Billy the Kid, into the history books. The so-called war, a fight for control of the mercantile economy of southeastern New Mexico, is one of the most documented conflicts in the history of the American West, but it is an event that up to now has been interpreted through the eyes of men.
-
-
Old western
- By M.Liken on 01-08-23
-
Furious Hours
- Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
- By: Casey Cep
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the 1970s. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him dead at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell's murderer was acquitted—thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend. Casey Cep brings this story to life, from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South.
-
-
Great book, needs a Southern narrator
- By Joseph Wu on 06-06-19
By: Casey Cep
-
The Patient Assassin
- A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India's Quest for Independence
- By: Anita Anand
- Narrated by: Anita Anand
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The “compelling [and] vivid” (The New York Times Book Review) true story of a man who claimed to be a survivor of a 1919 British massacre in India, his elaborate 20-year plan for revenge, and the mix of truth and legend that made him a hero to hundreds of millions.
-
-
more interesting history
- By Autodidact on 09-07-19
By: Anita Anand
-
The Injustice Never Leaves You
- Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas
- By: Monica Muñoz Martinez
- Narrated by: Kyla García
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Between 1910 and 1920, vigilantes and law enforcement-including the renowned Texas Rangers - killed Mexican residents with impunity. The full extent of the violence was known only to the relatives of the victims. The Injustice Never Leaves You offers an invaluable account of why these incidents happened, what they meant at the time, and how a determined community ensured that the victims were not forgotten.
-
-
Worth the read ! Lots of facts
- By LIZETTE LERMA,LIZETTE LERMA on 10-31-20
-
Texas Ranger
- The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde
- By: John Boessenecker
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 17 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the horseback days of the Old West through the gangster days of the 1930s, Hamer stood on the front lines of some of the most important and exciting periods in American history. He participated in the Bandit War of 1915, survived the climactic gunfight in the last blood feud of the Old West, battled the Mexican Revolution's spillover across the border, protected African Americans from lynch mobs and the Ku Klux Klan, and ran down gangsters, bootleggers, and Communists.
-
-
I love Frank Hamer, but Boessenecker's left leanin
- By A. Taylor on 04-06-19
-
Goat Castle
- A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South
- By: Karen L. Cox
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1932, the city of Natchez, Mississippi, reckoned with an unexpected influx of journalists and tourists as the lurid story of a local murder was splashed across headlines nationwide. Two eccentrics, Richard Dana and Octavia Dockery, enlisted an African American man named George Pearls to rob their reclusive neighbor, Jennie Merrill, at her estate. During the attempted robbery, Merrill was shot and killed.
-
-
amazing true crime and historical book
- By Ellen Williams on 06-19-20
By: Karen L. Cox
-
Manson Exposed
- A Reporter's 50-Year Journey into Madness and Murder
- By: Ivor Davis
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
American-based foreign correspondent Ivor Davis delivers a gripping "I was there" eyewitness, inside story about the most notorious murder spree of the 20th century. In Manson Exposed: A Reporter's 50-Year Journey into Madness and Murder, Davis is the brutally honest guide to this true crime horror story. In this mix of personal memoir, criticism, and investigative journalism, Davis delivers a truly original take on the byzantine case that terrified and mesmerized the nation, including his new conclusion that the Beatles didn't make them do it.
-
-
This is a good read...it basically sticks to facts not going in to conspiracy theories
- By Anonymous User on 04-05-20
By: Ivor Davis
-
Empire of Sin
- By: Gary Krist
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Empire of Sin re-creates the remarkable story of New Orleans' 30-years war against itself, pitting the city's elite "better half" against its powerful and long-entrenched underworld of vice, perversity, and crime. This early-20th-century battle centers on one man: Tom Anderson, the undisputed czar of the city's Storyville vice district, who fights desperately to keep his empire intact as it faces onslaughts from all sides.
-
-
very interesting
- By Claireoline on 02-20-15
By: Gary Krist
-
"The Rest of Us"
- The Rise of America's Eastern European Jews
- By: Stephen Birmingham
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 18 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The wave of Eastern European Jewish immigrants who swept into New York in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by way of Ellis Island were not welcomed by the Jews who had arrived decades before. These refugees from czarist Russia and the Polish shtetls who came to America to escape pogroms and persecution were considered barbaric, uneducated, and too steeped in the traditions of the "old country" to be accepted by the more refined and already well-established German-Jewish community. But the new arrivals were tough, passionate, and determined.
-
-
Book 3 of 3
- By Etoile NEOhio on 11-15-22
-
Buried in the Bitter Waters
- The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America
- By: Elliot Jaspin
- Narrated by: Don Leslie
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Leave now, or die!" From the heart of the Midwest to the Deep South, from the mountains of North Carolina to the Texas frontier, words like these have echoed through more than a century of American history. The call heralded not a tornado or a hurricane, but a very unnatural disaster: a manmade wave of racial cleansing that purged black populations from counties across the nation.
-
-
a compelling read with a disappointing conclusion
- By Gregory on 12-16-07
By: Elliot Jaspin
Critic reviews
“Offers the gold standard in the fields of history and lore on Lincoln County, New Mexico, and Billy the Kid.” (David V. Holtby, author of Forty-Seventh Star)
“Richard W. Etulain is one of the best known writers of the Wild West. Highly recommend!” (Tombstone Epitaph)
“Solid, carefully researched, and well written. It also serves as a guide to areas for western historians’ further research.” (Southwestern Historical Quarterly)
Related to this topic
-
Outlaws of the Wild West
- Infamous Western Criminals and Killers
- By: Daniel Brand
- Narrated by: Wayne Butler
- Length: 3 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Wild West was a troublesome area for a long, long time. Hard conditions brought hard people - not everyone was suited to live there, but those who did had a choice - the boring everyday life or a life of an outlaw, filled with daring escapes, adventures, and thievery. If it was you, which one would you choose?
-
-
very detailed
- By J M Holmes on 10-24-24
By: Daniel Brand
-
Billy the Kid
- The Endless Ride
- By: Michael Wallis
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning historian Michael Wallis has spent several years re-creating the rich, anecdotal saga of Billy the Kid (1859-1881), a deeply mythologized young man who became a legend in his own time and yet remains an enigma to this day. With the Gilded Age in full swing and the Industrial Revolution reshaping the American landscape, "the Kid", who was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the New Mexico Territory at the age of 21, became a new breed of celebrity outlaw.
-
-
Disappointing
- By MJTCPA on 07-30-11
By: Michael Wallis
-
Dodge City
- Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West
- By: Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dodge City, Kansas, is a place of legend. The town that started as a small military site exploded with the coming of the railroad, cattle drives, eager miners, settlers, and various entrepreneurs passing through to populate the expanding West. Before long Dodge City's streets were lined with saloons and brothels, and its populace was thick with gunmen, horse thieves, and desperadoes of every sort. By the 1870s, Dodge City was known as the most violent and turbulent town in the West.
-
-
The Real Life Story of Dodge City
- By Jean on 03-26-17
By: Tom Clavin
-
Butch Cassidy
- The True Story of an American Outlaw
- By: Charles Leerhsen
- Narrated by: Pete Simonelli
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than a century the life and death of Butch Cassidy have been the subject of legend, spawning a small industry of mythmakers and a major Hollywood film. But who was Butch Cassidy, really? Charles Leerhsen, best-selling author of Ty Cobb, sorts out the facts from folklore and paints a “compelling portrait of the charming, debonair, ranch hand-turned-outlaw” (Ron Hansen, author of The Kid) of the American West.
-
-
Butch Cassidy is still a modern day hero!
- By Anonymous User on 12-12-20
By: Charles Leerhsen
-
Seth Bullock
- A Captivating Guide to Deadwood’s First Sheriff Who Tamed This Wild West Town and Was Later Appointed US Marshal by Theodore Roosevelt
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Jason Zenobia
- Length: 1 hr and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Deadwood, 1876: a notorious little mining town in modern-day South Dakota that was a hive of criminal activity. Thieves, drunkards, prostitutes, and murderers ran rampant among its booming streets. There were over 300 murders in this town during the first year of its existence. When Wild Bill Hickok was brutally shot and killed at point-blank range in the back of the head, it was obvious that someone had to rise up and save the town of Deadwood from itself.
-
-
Enjoyable
- By DM on 05-19-21
-
Legends of the West: The Life and Legacy of Doc Holliday
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Michael Gilboe
- Length: 1 hr and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of all the colorful characters that inhabited the West during the 19th century, the man who has earned an enduring legacy as the region's quirkiest is John Henry "Doc" Holliday (1851-1887), a dentist turned professional gambler who was widely recognized as one of the fastest draws in the West. In fact, the only thing that might have been faster than the deadly gunman's draw was his violent temper, which was easily set off when Holliday was drunk. By the early 1880s, Holliday had been arrested nearly 20 times.
-
-
VERY informative
- By michael on 04-10-16
-
Outlaws of the Wild West
- Infamous Western Criminals and Killers
- By: Daniel Brand
- Narrated by: Wayne Butler
- Length: 3 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Wild West was a troublesome area for a long, long time. Hard conditions brought hard people - not everyone was suited to live there, but those who did had a choice - the boring everyday life or a life of an outlaw, filled with daring escapes, adventures, and thievery. If it was you, which one would you choose?
-
-
very detailed
- By J M Holmes on 10-24-24
By: Daniel Brand
-
Billy the Kid
- The Endless Ride
- By: Michael Wallis
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning historian Michael Wallis has spent several years re-creating the rich, anecdotal saga of Billy the Kid (1859-1881), a deeply mythologized young man who became a legend in his own time and yet remains an enigma to this day. With the Gilded Age in full swing and the Industrial Revolution reshaping the American landscape, "the Kid", who was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the New Mexico Territory at the age of 21, became a new breed of celebrity outlaw.
-
-
Disappointing
- By MJTCPA on 07-30-11
By: Michael Wallis
-
Dodge City
- Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West
- By: Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dodge City, Kansas, is a place of legend. The town that started as a small military site exploded with the coming of the railroad, cattle drives, eager miners, settlers, and various entrepreneurs passing through to populate the expanding West. Before long Dodge City's streets were lined with saloons and brothels, and its populace was thick with gunmen, horse thieves, and desperadoes of every sort. By the 1870s, Dodge City was known as the most violent and turbulent town in the West.
-
-
The Real Life Story of Dodge City
- By Jean on 03-26-17
By: Tom Clavin
-
Butch Cassidy
- The True Story of an American Outlaw
- By: Charles Leerhsen
- Narrated by: Pete Simonelli
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than a century the life and death of Butch Cassidy have been the subject of legend, spawning a small industry of mythmakers and a major Hollywood film. But who was Butch Cassidy, really? Charles Leerhsen, best-selling author of Ty Cobb, sorts out the facts from folklore and paints a “compelling portrait of the charming, debonair, ranch hand-turned-outlaw” (Ron Hansen, author of The Kid) of the American West.
-
-
Butch Cassidy is still a modern day hero!
- By Anonymous User on 12-12-20
By: Charles Leerhsen
-
Seth Bullock
- A Captivating Guide to Deadwood’s First Sheriff Who Tamed This Wild West Town and Was Later Appointed US Marshal by Theodore Roosevelt
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Jason Zenobia
- Length: 1 hr and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Deadwood, 1876: a notorious little mining town in modern-day South Dakota that was a hive of criminal activity. Thieves, drunkards, prostitutes, and murderers ran rampant among its booming streets. There were over 300 murders in this town during the first year of its existence. When Wild Bill Hickok was brutally shot and killed at point-blank range in the back of the head, it was obvious that someone had to rise up and save the town of Deadwood from itself.
-
-
Enjoyable
- By DM on 05-19-21
-
Legends of the West: The Life and Legacy of Doc Holliday
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Michael Gilboe
- Length: 1 hr and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of all the colorful characters that inhabited the West during the 19th century, the man who has earned an enduring legacy as the region's quirkiest is John Henry "Doc" Holliday (1851-1887), a dentist turned professional gambler who was widely recognized as one of the fastest draws in the West. In fact, the only thing that might have been faster than the deadly gunman's draw was his violent temper, which was easily set off when Holliday was drunk. By the early 1880s, Holliday had been arrested nearly 20 times.
-
-
VERY informative
- By michael on 04-10-16
-
Cult of Glory
- The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers
- By: Doug J. Swanson
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Texas Rangers came to life in 1823, when Texas was still part of Mexico. Nearly 200 years later, the Rangers are still going - one of the most famous of all law enforcement agencies. In Cult of Glory, Doug J. Swanson has written a sweeping account of the Rangers that chronicles their epic, daring escapades while showing how the white and propertied power structures of Texas used them as enforcers, protectors, and officially sanctioned killers.
-
-
Not a book about men who tamed the west
- By W. Larson on 12-30-20
By: Doug J. Swanson
-
Alias Billy the Kid
- By: C. L. Sonnichsen, William Morrison
- Narrated by: Jack Chekijian
- Length: 4 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Was Billy the Kid really shot to death by Sheriff Pat Garrett on a July night in 1881? At the midpoint of the last century, an old man comes forth seeking a pardon for crimes committed. He says that he wants to die a free man - and that he is Billy the Kid. The incident leads to this examination of new facts, new interpretations, and new contradictions. It is the story of "Brushy" Bill Roberts, a man who laid claim to a legend. Originally published in 1955 by University of New Mexico Press.
-
-
must read!
- By James A thornton on 03-27-18
By: C. L. Sonnichsen, and others
-
To Hell on a Fast Horse
- The Untold Story of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett
- By: Mark Lee Gardner
- Narrated by: Graham Rowat, Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billy the Kid - a.k.a. Henry McCarty, Henry Antrim, and William Bonney - was a horse thief, cattle rustler, charismatic rogue, and cold-blooded killer. A superb shot, the Kid gunned down four men single-handedly and five others with the help of cronies. Two of his victims were Lincoln County, New Mexico, deputies, killed during the Kid's brazen daylight escape from the courthouse jail on April 28, 1881.
-
-
Great Listen
- By Susan Stilley on 10-06-21
By: Mark Lee Gardner
-
Ride the Devil's Herd
- Wyatt Earp's Epic Battle Against the West's Biggest Outlaw Gang
- By: John Boessenecker
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wyatt Earp is regarded as the most famous lawman of the Old West, best known for his role in the Gunfight at the OK 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, they ruled the border, robbing, rustling, smuggling, and killing with impunity until they made the fatal mistake of tangling with the Earp brothers.
-
-
Tough Listen.
- By Nick on 05-15-20
-
Jesse James
- Last Rebel of the Civil War
- By: T. J. Stiles
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 18 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this brilliant biography T. J. Stiles offers a new understanding of the legendary outlaw Jesse James. Although he has often been portrayed as a Robin Hood of the old west, in this ground-breaking work Stiles places James within the context of the bloody conflicts of the Civil War to reveal a much more complicated and significant figure.
-
-
Borderline woke retelling of the era JJ live in
- By Rodney on 08-24-22
By: T. J. Stiles
-
Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Patriots
- By: Bill O'Reilly, David Fisher
- Narrated by: Holter Graham, Bill O'Reilly
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The must-have companion to Bill O'Reilly's historical docudrama Legends and Lies: The Patriots, an exciting and eye-opening look at the Revolutionary War through the lives of its leaders. The American Revolution was neither inevitable nor a unanimous cause. It pitted neighbors against each other as loyalists and colonial rebels faced off for their lives and futures. These were the times that tried men's souls: No one was on stable ground, and few could be trusted.
-
-
Couldn't stop listening!
- By Erin on 08-05-16
By: Bill O'Reilly, and others
-
Cattle Kingdom
- The Hidden History of the Cowboy West
- By: Christopher Knowlton
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Open Range cattle era lasted barely a quarter-century, but it left America irrevocably changed. These few decades following the Civil War brought America its greatest boom-and-bust cycle until the Depression, the invention of the assembly line, and the dawn of the conservation movement. It inspired legends, such as that icon of rugged individualism, the cowboy. Yet this extraordinary time and its import have remained unexamined for decades. Cattle Kingdom reveals the truth of how the West rose and fell, and how its legacy defines us today.
-
-
Disappointing - Author has an Agenda
- By McMullen on 09-19-21
-
Murder at the Mission
- A Frontier Killing, Its Legacy of Lies, and the Taking of the American West
- By: Blaine Harden
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1836, two missionaries and their wives were among the first Americans to cross the Rockies by covered wagon on what would become the Oregon Trail. Dr. Marcus Whitman and Reverend Henry Spalding were headed to present-day Washington state and Idaho, where they aimed to convert members of the Cayuse and Nez Perce tribes. Both would fail spectacularly as missionaries.
-
-
Good history; wanted more indigenous perspective.
- By Anonymous User on 07-06-21
By: Blaine Harden
-
The Last Outlaws
- The Lives and Legends of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- By: Thom Hatch
- Narrated by: James C. Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - as leaders of the Wild Bunch, they planned and executed the most daring bank and train robberies of the day, with a professionalism never before seen by authorities. For several years at the end of the 1890s, the two friends, along with a revolving cast who made up their band of thieves, eluded local law enforcement and bounty hunters, all while stealing from the rich bankers and eastern railroad corporations who exploited western land. The close calls were many, but Butch and Sundance always managed to escape to rob again another day - that is, until they rode headlong into the 20th century.
-
-
EXELLENT LISTENING<br />
- By Warren Taylor on 08-13-17
By: Thom Hatch
-
Furious Hours
- Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
- By: Casey Cep
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the 1970s. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him dead at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell's murderer was acquitted—thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend. Casey Cep brings this story to life, from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South.
-
-
Great book, needs a Southern narrator
- By Joseph Wu on 06-06-19
By: Casey Cep
-
The Kosher Capones
- A History of Chicago’s Jewish Gangsters
- By: Joe Kraus
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Kosher Capones tells the fascinating story of Chicago’s Jewish gangsters from Prohibition into the 1980s. Author Joe Kraus traces these gangsters through the lives, criminal careers, and conflicts of Benjamin “Zukie the Bookie” Zuckerman, last of the independent West Side Jewish bosses, and Lenny Patrick, eventual head of the Syndicate’s “Jewish wing.”
-
-
Kind of scattered
- By joey carbo on 10-04-21
By: Joe Kraus
-
Big Wonderful Thing
- By: Stephen Harrigan
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 28 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of Texas is the story of struggle and triumph in a land of extremes. It is a story of drought and flood, invasion and war, boom and bust, and of the myriad peoples who, over centuries of conflict, gave rise to a place that has helped shape the identity of the United States and the destiny of the world.
-
-
Guidall is in top form with very good material
- By Elizabeth on 12-22-19
By: Stephen Harrigan
What listeners say about Thunder in the West
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sydney Frey
- 04-24-24
Thoroughly Entertaining
I loved this biography and appreciate that Etulain put the story of Billy the Kid in part one and the historiography of Billy in the second. It's a fascinating read and I have found many more books to read!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David D. Bickings
- 05-26-22
Too much repetitiveness, and more than half the book essentially the repeats itself
Half the book Chronicles the short life of Billy the kid, and the other half basically repeats the same things but from the perspective of others. The book should’ve just been half as long and only had the first part.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!