Wondrous Times On The Frontier

Uses many sources to portray the diversity of the American frontier of the 1800s.

A lively history of the nineteenth-century American West from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author: “Glorious . . . Do not miss a page.” —Rocky Mountain News Frontier life, Dee Brown writes, “was hard, unpleasant most of the time,” and “ lacking in almost all amenities or creature comforts.” And yet, tall tales were the genre of the day, and humor, both light and dark, was abundant. In this historical account, Brown examines the aspects of the frontier spirit that would come to assume so central a position in American mythology. Split into sections—“Gambling, Violence, and Merriment,” “Lawyers, Newsmen, and Other Professionals,” and “Misunderstood Minorities—it is mindful in its correction of certain stereotypes of Western life, and is a mesmerizing account of an untamed nation and its wild, resilient settlers. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dee Brown including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The war in the Pacific cost the army 57,137 lives. The Eighth Air Force suffered 26,000 airmen deaths in Europe, and the merchant marine lost 4,780 people when their ships sank or they were blown overboard. #2 The United States suffered a lot of civilian casualties during World War II, but compared to the countries that suffered the greatest slaughter, Russia, China, Germany, Poland, and Japan, it might seem like the United States got off easy. #3 The deaths of the Japanese military and civilians during World War II were tragic, but the Allied bombings of Japanese cities and the use of American B-29 Superfortresses to firebomb them was the deadliest night of the war, claiming more lives than Dresden, Hiroshima, or Nagasaki. #4 The final death toll for all countries lies between about 50 million and 100 million deaths. However many died, they were more than statistics on a sheet of paper.

The author of "The Fighting Men of the Civil War" now masterfully chronicles the grand history of the territory beyond the Mississippi, with particular attention to exploration, expansion, conflict, and settlement.

Big Bill Otter was one member of the early American working class not preoccupied with republican principles or the heritage of the Revolution. Big Bill Otter—apprentice, journeyman, master plasterer—was a thug. Otter's autobiography, first published in 1835, provides a rare and fascinating counterpoint to romantic notions of virtuous, respectable craftsmen in the early republic. His Life and Adventures offer an inside account of the brawling racism common in the early nineteenth century and sharply detail the rowdy male subculture of the times. Born in England and conscripted into the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars, Otter jumped ship and came to New York City in 1801. He apprenticed as a plasterer and joined an urban gang; later he was a master plasterer, tavernkeeper, slavecatcher, "Jackson man," bigot, town bully, notorious practical joker, borderline psychopath, mayoral candidate, and all-round "jolly fellow." History of My Own Times is one of the few first-person accounts of a rural artisan in pre-genteel America. The book depicts the ambiguities of race relations in the early nineteenth century, sheds light on its definition of manhood, and conveys a sense of humor very different from today's. Richard B. Stott's introduction an,d commentary place Otter in the context of his times and explore the significance of his autobiography in understanding the social and cultural history of the early American republic.

Western movies are full of images of swaggering outlaws brought to justice by valiant lawmen shooting them down in daring gunfights before riding off into the sunset. In reality it would not have happened that way. Real lawmen did not simply walk away from a gunfight--they had to face the legal system and justify shooting a civilian in the line of duty. Providing a more realistic view of criminal justice in the Old West, this history focuses on how criminals came into conflict with the law and how the law responded. The process is described in detail, from the common crimes of the day--such as train robbery and cattle theft--to the methods of apprehending criminals to their adjudication and punishment by incarceration, flogging or hanging.

Eugene Field (1850?95) is perhaps best remembered for his children's verse, especially "Little Boy Blue" and "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod." During his journalistic career, however, his column, "Sharps and Flats," in the Chicago Daily News illuminated the shenanigans of local and national politics, captured the excitement of baseball, and praised the cultural scene of Chicago and the West over that of the East Coast and Europe. Field used whimsy, satire, and, at times, unadorned admiration to depict and encapsulate the energy of a young nation reinventing itself and its political ambitions in the closing decades of the nineteenth century. Foremost, Field was a political observer. During his lifetime politics saw more public awareness and involvement than at any other time in American history, and Field's great popularity derived mainly from his near-ceaseless commentary?arch, outlandish, comic, serious?on that arena of affairs. Field also devoted many columns to entertainment and diversions, discussing the baseball "idiocy" that stormed Chicago and championing and criticizing authors and actors.