This is an excellent book about how the lives of Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp intertwined throughout their days in the Old West. Much of the book is spent on their time together in Dodge City, Kansas - one of the roughest towns during the latter part of the 1800s.
Masterson, Earp, and their many respective brothers were respected lawmen who could be counted on to protect the lives of those they served. I especially liked the large number of anecdotes and other Western characters that author Tom Clavin shared throughout the book. The amount of research that he did to produce this story was extensive and, as a college history major, it was appreciated by this reader.
If you want to read mostly factual information, not mythical, about this period of American history and these impactful characters, then grab a copy of "Dodge City..." today. ( )

I’ve always thought nonfiction books on the Old West started off with the problem that they are simply not as good as the fictional depictions of that era, such as the books of Larry McMurtry and Louis L’Amour, or the films of John Ford, Howard Hawks, and Anthony Mann. But Tom Clavin’s DODGE CITY: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West, is filled with enough action, and dynamic characters, to satisfy to the most avid western novel and movie buff. Clavin’s book ostensibly tells the story of Dodge City, Kansas, from the mid 1870s to the early 1880s, when it was the rail hub for numerous cattle drives coming up from Texas, where the beef would be shipped east. This place was often a stopover for many heading further west into Colorado and the Dakotas, either to hunt the once massive buffalo herds, prospect for gold, or to simply head over the horizon in the pursuit of happiness. There were lots of opportunities to make money in this Kansas railroad town, selling whiskey and flesh, and dealing cards being far from the least of them. The rule of law was tenuous at best; the authority to enforce it often fell into the hands of men with less than civic minded motives.

As Clavin’s title makes clear, this book centers on Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, two restless young men who ventured into the American West after the Civil War in search of a better life than the family farm. One of the occupations they took up was being a lawman in a town in dire need of someone to keep order; it was a job both proved quite adept at early on, and in time gained reputations which would follow them for the rest of their lives far beyond Dodge City. We get a good take on both men’s personalities; Earp could be taciturn, while Masterson was gregarious, and despite the differences in temperament, they became fast friends who would back up the other in a confrontation with a drunken “cow boy” out to shoot up a saloon. Both men had brothers who served alongside them, and an extended group of fellow Sheriff’s deputies and Marshalls who could also be called upon in a tight spot. Many of these men would go on to serve together in other towns across the West, notably the Earps in Tombstone, Arizona, in an early example of what might be called “networking.” Both Earp and Masterson were good at handling themselves in rough company, and while not reckless, they did possess no small amount of physical courage when it was needed. They were also businessmen, who supplanted their salaries by owning a saloon or a brothel (sometimes both in one), and dealing faro cards; details that seldom made it into the sanitized portrayals of their exploits in movies or on TV. It’s an aspect of their careers which make them even more interesting.

Some have found fault with the meandering style of Clavin’s book, as he delivers a lot of back story for secondary participants, while frequently taking the story far from the events in Dodge City, such as the Earp brothers’ sojourn in Tombstone. There is a huge cast of characters, which includes Wild Bill Hickok, Doc Holiday, Buffalo Bill Cody, Belle Starr, the James Brothers, Billy the Kid, Kate Elder, Dull Knife, John Wesley Hardin, and Theodore Roosevelt. There are accounts of gunfights, lynching’s and attempted lynching’s, cattle rustling, card games gone bad, stage robberies, buffalo hunts, Indian attacks, drunken cowboys, and just plain bad tempered sons of …; it’s more than enough to fill any great novel. I enjoy a book packed with detail and well written descriptions, and learned a lot I didn’t know about historical characters I only knew before from books and movies. I think there is a valid question as to how accurate Clavin’s sources might be, as contemporary accounts of this time were sketchy at best, while much that we think we know about the Wild West rests on reminiscences and memoirs given and written long after the fact by less than reliable sources. Did Billy the Kid and Jesse James really sit down at a table in saloon in Las Vegas, New Mexico at play a game of poker with Doc Holiday? All I can say is that if it isn’t true, it ought to be.

No doubt, there are many who would rather read a book that decries the environmental holocaust of the Buffalo hunts, the mistreatment of the Sioux, the Cheyenne, and the Comanche, the degradation and exploitation of women in the Old West by prostitution, and the American propensity for violence; and this book is clearly not for them. Clavin’s writing style is breezy and fast paced, with a keen eye for the pertinent detail when bringing colorful characters to life on the page, and best of all, he knows how to get out of the way of a good story and let it tell itself.

Of the two main protagonists, Wyatt Earp has had more books written about and certainly more movies made about his life than Bat Masterson, not the least among them being TOMBSTONE, with Kurt Russell as Wyatt. But after reading this book, I can’t help but think Masterson led the more interesting life; I recall reading about an unproduced script that went around Hollywood back in the ‘70s about his later years when he was a sports writer in New York City with hopes of getting either James Cagney or John Wayne to play the older Masterson. If true, it’s a shame that film never came about. ( )

I grew up in rural Kansas, so the history of the midwest, especially the Old West era in Kansas, is near and dear to me. My husband is a huge fan of the fictionalized television show about Dodge City, Gunsmoke. I was so excited when I learned this book was coming out! I knew immediately my husband would love it. Reading about Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Doc Holliday and other real characters and events in Dodge City will make him so happy! His book is on order....I can't wait for it to arrive!

Tom Clavin starts out by giving information about southwest Kansas before white settlers arrived. It was filled with Indian tribes fighting for territory, millions of buffalo, and wide open grassland. He talks about the conquistadors who came through exploring in the 1500s and Lewis & Clark in the early 1800s and those who followed after. Then Clavin moves into the era of westward movement, cattle drives, railroads and lawlessness in the prairie.

This book is just crammed full of well-researched information. At times, it seemed a bit disorganized but the history was interesting, even if not always related in linear fashion. Technically, the book really isn't just about Dodge City but relates stories about people, events and the history of the region.

I had to read this book a little bit at a time. When my brain went into fact-overload, I would take a break and come back later for more. Clavin gives factual insights into what Dodge City and the Old West was really like, and how the exaggerated stories in books and movies came about.

A wonderful read for anyone who enjoys history! Just keep in mind that this book is a non-fiction history, not a fictionalized story. Don't expect simple entertainment, but a journey through the real history of the region, the era and some of the famous people who battled to tame the west.

Tom Clavin is the author of 11 non-fiction books on famous people including Roger Maris and the DiMaggio brothers.

**I voluntarily read an Advance Readers copy of this book from St Martin's Press via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.** ( )

Its an interesting story. It felt like the author had to really stretch to get enough info and stories to fill out the book, but the narrative moved along and was well told. ( )

Dodge City: Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp and the Wickedest Town in the American West by Tom Clavin is a 2018 St. Martin’s Griffin publication.

This is an extremely interesting history of the time Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson spent in Dodge City, Kansas.

The landscape and atmosphere of the city, is very vividly drawn, and might be a bit different from the preconceived notions we have, based on westerns we’ve watched on television. The information provided here might also come as a surprise for many. Books, movies, and television have exaggerated and embellished the facts to the point where it is has become hard to separate fact from fiction.

Clavin did a great job of explaining how the legends were born, how these fantastical stories originated, then proceeded to break down the real, true story of Dodge City, Bat Masterson, and Wyatt Earp. I found the reality to be just as fascinating as the overblown legends.

While I love history and historical fiction, excepting a handful of western historical romance novels, I occasionally indulge in, I have never been especially interested in reading a pure Western.

However, years ago, I lost a coin toss with my husband and had to watch ‘Tombstone’, the movie starring Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell. While initially, I sat on the sofa sulking, because westerns were my least favorite kind of movie of all time, before long, I was completely caught up in the comedy and drama, as well as the incredible acting performances.

A small seed was planted back then, which made me want to learn more about Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. But I never acted on that curiosity because I just wasn’t quite ready to consider reading American Western history- fact or fiction, just yet.

However, that movie did help me better understand who many of the players were in this book and is also why the true story behind these infamous characters was so surprising to me. While I was somewhat familiar with Wyatt Earp’s background, I knew next to nothing about Bat Masterson, which made the portions of the book pertaining to him of greater interest.

The lives of Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp did intersect on several occasions, and this book shows the true nature of their dealings with one another. I enjoyed reading about Dodge City as well. In recent years, the city of Tombstone, thanks in part, to the above- mentioned motion picture, has overshadowed Dodge City. However, the city was certainly… lively! The moral compass was not exactly pure to say the least, perhaps even shocking in some ways.

While history buffs may be well versed in this period in American history, even the most knowledgeable will discover some new information about the two men featured in this book, or about Dodge City and some of its inhabitants.

For someone like me, who has avoided anything that might be even remotely defined as a traditional or pure western for years, this book was very enlightening!!

Overall, this is a well organized book, quite interesting, and a much welcomed change of pace for me.

4 stars ( )