Many stories have been written about the exploits of Billy the Kid, the charismatic outlaw of the Old West. Some have been pure fiction, designed to entertain and excite. Purple prose writers began chronicling the exploits of Billy as early as the late 1870s. Others have been biographical, researched by historians or recorded by those who knew him, including his murderer, Sheriff Pat Garrett. But there was once a different side to the famous gunfighter, a softer more artistic side that seems at odds with Billy’s reputation for shooting, killing, and robbing. Born Henry McCarty, he was also known by the names Henry Antrim, Kid Antrim, and William H. Bonney. He didn’t shoot twenty-one men, as has been claimed. Four is a more likely number, three in self-defense. In Before Billy the Kid, author Melody Groves explores the early life of the infamous outlaw, the teenage boy who loved to sing and dance. The young man who was polite, educated, and popular. A boy who had the bad luck to be orphaned at fifteen and left with no one to guide him through life. How different history might have been if Billy had pursued his love of music instead of a life of crime.

Did Pat Garrett kill the wrong man in 1881 in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, or did the outlaw known as Billy the Kid live on as William Henry Roberts until 1948? W.C. Jameson analyzes the evidence, including use of new technology to produce a compelling case for Billy's survival. Heralded by Booklist as an enjoyable reexamination of a legendary piece of Americana, this book traces the life of the famous desperado and the controversy that still is debated today. Now in paperback!

There is believed to be more of what is called “True History” concerning the life of William H. Bonney, known in later years as Billy the Kid, than any other known outlaw during the years 1850-1900. It is claimed that at the age of twenty-one years old, he was believed to have been one of the most notorious and dangerous “pistol-tot-n” outlaws of the old west. It is also claimed that he was only twelve years old when he killed his first man for insulting his mother then slapping her down in the middle of the street. Could that be true? And it depends on who you are speaking with or you are reading as to where and when this happened. They say he killed a man for every year of his life; twenty-one years old, twenty-one men. Could this be true? And speaking of truth, was his name really William H. Bonny? Well, you had better read this book and find out for sure.

Despite the countless books and films devoted to him, Billy the Kid remains one of the most elusive figures of the Old West. Now, award-winning western historian Frederick Nolan has scoured the published literature to offer this well-rounded compendium on the life and times of William H. Bonney. The Billy the Kid Reader contains some of the best articles on the Kid—including gems no longer in print. From the first dime novel that appeared shortly after his death to the research of today’s historians, these writings bring Bonney’s life into sharp focus. Nolan highlights two distinct schools of Billy the Kid studies: works of popularizers who tended to exaggerate his historical role, and the findings of grassroots researchers who have reassessed our perceptions of the Kid. Dozens of illustrations enhance the text, illuminating the Kid’s career and notoriety. This collection shows that the life of William H. Bonney is not yet a closed book—far from it. Many versions of his life remain little more than unchallenged tradition. The Billy the Kid Reader puts that lengthy body of work in perspective and will satisfy seasoned Kid aficionados as well as first-time readers eager to learn more about the man and the legend.

Examines the career of the young outlaw whose life and death were an expression of the violence prevalent on the American frontier.

Traces the brief life of the western outlaw whose lifestyle reflected the violence prevalent on the American frontier

The orphaned, bucktoothed, New York Irish boy speaks Spanish and wears a Mexican sombrero. He claims his name is William Bonney. His amigos call him “Kid.” To newspapers in the New Mexico Territory and across America, he is “Billy the Kid.” William was among the bravest of the McSween alliance in the Lincoln County War. He was lucky, too—lucky enough to shoot his way out when the rest of his faction was cornered and slaughtered in battle. He was later captured and condemned to hang, but he killed his guards and escaped. Now, William has one last chance. He heads into Old Mexico with his lover, the fierce Apache maiden Tzoeh. There he hopes to start a new life, live in peace and obscurity, and be forgotten. But powerful Anglo ranchers plot to use William’s hot temper, unmatched courage, consummate loyalty to his amigos, and superb skill with a six-gun for their own ends.

As business interests have commercialized the American West and publishers and studios have created compelling imagery, the expectations of readers and moviegoers have influenced perceptions of the cowboy as a hero. This book describes the evolution of the cowboy hero as a mythic persona created by dime novels, television and Hollywood. Much of our concept of the cowboy comes to us from movies and the book's main focus is his changing image in cinema. The development of the hero image and the fictional West is traced from early novels and films to the present, along with shifting audience expectations and economic pressures.

Standoffs, saloons, and sunsets spring to mind when one envisions the rough and tumble early days of the American frontier.

Discover the surprising connection between Dracula and the Loch Ness monster! The world believes the notorious outlaw Billy the Kid was killed by Pat Garrett, but in reality the Kid is very much alive, the hired gun of Fineas Sproule's traveling spectacle of biological curiosities - or freaks,' as Billy calls them. In their latest adventure, Billy and crew head to Loch Ness to rescue their lizard-skinned comrade Callahan from the wrath of Count Dracula.'