Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West

Clavin’s history of Dodge City, Kans., is a wildly entertaining and informative look at the Old West and the lifelong friendship of Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, two self-trained lawmen who led the effort to establish justice on the frontier. Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid, Sam Bass, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Jesse James are only a few of the multitude of colorful characters who appear as Clavin separates fact from fiction in popular portrayals of the West. The audio edition makes good use of actor Lloyd’s rich, baritone voice. He strikes a balance between informative lecturer and casual raconteur of exciting tales of barroom brawls, gunfights, murders, jailbreaks, train robberies, and Indian attacks. His simple, skillful reading makes for an enjoyable and fascinating trip back to a wild time in history where the enforcement of the law often fell to the man with the quickest gun and the keenest eye. A Saint Martin’s hardcover. (Feb.)