Jesse james gang biography book

There is no western outlaw more infamous and notorious than Jesse James.

Indeed, any reader of Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War who is interested in pursuing the subject further should consult Yeatman’s book, particularly for its more detailed treatment of Frank James and of certain episodes, such as the Huntington, West Virginia, robbery.”

Yeatman, who died in 2009, was a freelance writer who wrote many articles about the Civil War for publications such as True West Magazine, Old West, Civil War Times Illustrated, and The Quarterly of the National Association and Center for Outlaw and Lawman History.

Later he would write newspaper articles on Jesse James.

Outlaw Youngers, A Confederate Brotherhood – by Marley Brant

A well-written and extensively researched story of the Younger brothers.

Outlaws, The Illustrated History of the James-Younger Gang – by Marley Brant

A well-written account of the James-Younger Gang featuring many interesting photographs.

The Many Faces of Jesse James – by Phillip W.

Steele with George Warfel

Authentic or not? That this ending comes to us as tragedy (despite its obvious absurdity) is a mark of Stiles’s achievement, and that we can mourn the passing of even such a vicious man as Jesse James is a testament to a writer whose allegiance is not with the easy and obvious but with the subtle and defiantly humane.”

A review on Salon.com dubbed it the “best-ever biography on Jesse James” and described it as “perhaps the finest book ever written about this American legend.”

The book was named a New York Times Notable Book, it was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Biography, was named one of the Five Best Books of the Year by the London Sunday Times, was also named an American library Association of Notable Book and one of the New York Public Library’s 25 Books to Remember, and was also named a Best Book of the Year by Library Journal, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Bookpage, and the London Independent.

I read over five hundred original sources, including legal records, newspapers, personal papers, letters, memoirs, and army reports in order to prepare the manuscript.”

The book received mostly positive reviews when it was published. Stiles works on a large canvas, and his descriptions of the events leading up to the Civil War in the West, the horrific guerrilla campaigns in Kansas and Missouri during the war and the complex political struggle after the war are clear and vivid.

Much of the volume deals with the historical setting. Frank and Jesse James. In the life of Jesse James, we see the places where politics meets the gun.”

Stiles goes on to argue that since there were political motivations behind James’ murders, robberies and other crimes, he could be considered a “forerunner of the modern terrorist.”

Stiles explains that even though he can’t be compared to modern day terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, he was a “political partisan in a hotly partisan era” and his actions made him a symbol of Confederate efforts in post-war Missouri.

The book received positive reviews when it was published.

Indeed, he seems to have been taking great pains to differentiate his book from the others on the subject, which were mostly sensationalistic or works of folklore…His work remains the indispensable starting point for any investigation of Jesse and Frank James.”

William A. Settle Jr was a professor of American history at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma.

. “’Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War’ by T.J. Stiles.” Salon.com, 16 Oct. 2002, www.salon.com/2002/10/15/stiles/
Poolman, Jeremy. Finally in drawer No. 145 I found what I was looking for: the long-forgotten, dusty documents titled Daniel Smoote v. She is a member of the American Historical Association and volunteers for the National Archives and the Massachusetts Historical Society transcribing historical documents.

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Learn more about the James-Younger Gang!

Jesse James Was His Name; or, Fact and Fiction concerning the Careers of the Notorious James by William Settle

Published in 1966, this book by William Settle debunks the myths about Jesse James in order to understand who he really was.

Settle not only scoured contemporary news accounts to learn more about James but he also interview eyewitnesses and people who actually knew him.

When the book was originally published, it was considered the first ever scholarly book on Jesse James and received many positive reviews.

A Confederate guerilla during the Civil War, he and his brother, as the leaders of numerous gangs of the Wild West, turned to a life of crime and robbery that lasted more than a decade. Jesse James Was His Name; or, Fact and Fiction concerning the Careers of the Notorious James was his first and only book.

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From the Civil War to the infamous circumstances surrounding his death, James is an iconic American figure and a fascinating character.