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Book Review: WildWest THE AMERICAN FRONTIER August 2010 Page 75

Wyatt Earp: A Biography of the Legend, Vol. II, Part 1: Tombstone Before the Earps, by Lee A. Silva and Susan L. Silva, Sunset Beach, Calif., 2010, earpbooks@aol.com, $69.95.

The biography that is a whole lot more than merely Wyatt Earp’s story continues. Lee Silva’s 995-page Vol. I: The Cowtown Years created a stir when it came out in April 2002, and Earp and Tombstone fans have been stirring for eight years, waiting impatiently for the second volume. The wait is over. Truth be told, while the latest book in the series packs a wallop, a new wait has begun. It’s like those DVD Companies that have delivered the first season of a TV program and now come out with a”Season 2, Part 1” instead of offering all the episodes of the second season in one package. Yes, Silva’s long-awaited second volume will cover the gunfight near the O.K. Corral as well as the testimony, assassinations and vendetta that followed, but that will come in Part 2. That might be a disappointment to some, and author Lee Silva (who shares a byline with Susan Silva, his late wife and contributor) admits at first glance it might seem he has “strayed off the beaten path.” But in practice, most of thes would-be readers will change their tune once they take a gander at 556 glossy pages full of crisp photos and in-depth coverage of Tombstone.
As most other books and articles about Wyatt give short shrift to what happened in and around Tombstone before he and brothers Virgil and Morgan came to town, Part I of this second volume provides information that will be new to many gunfighter and lawmen aficionados. A few of Silva’s illuminating points: Lush cattle-grazing land near Tombstone brought to the area not only the infamous rustlers (so-called Cowboys) but also honest cattlemen--all before silver was discovered; Chiricahua Apache attacks greatly affected early life in Tombstone, and if not for one such attack, Tom and frank McLaury would not have been in Tombstone on October 26,1881 (the day on the big fight with the Earps and Doc Holliday); and the original mining camp of Tombstone was not situated where Tombstone is today.
at the same time , do not be misled by Part 1’s subtitle. Readers will find plenty about Wyatt Earp here. Chapter I, “Old Stories Never Die,” includes a look at his legend and the early anti-Earp and pro-Earp historians. Chapter 11 covers “Wyatt Earp and Wells, Fargo.” According to Wyatt’s own testimony, he came to Tombstone in October 1879 as both a deputy U.S. marshal and a Wells, Fargo private man. And Chapter 17, titled “The Earps Cometh,” offers a taste of tings to come.Another chapter deals with Josephine Sarah Marcus and lawman Johnny Behan, the former to become Wyatt’s liftime companion, he latter to become a badge-wearing enemy. Josie fans also won’t want to miss Appendix A, which sizes up various purported photos of her, inculding the controversial nude “Kaloma” photograph. Appendix B provides an update of the legendary long six-shooter known as the Buntline Special. For a Good handle on some of the fellows not fond of Wyatt, see Chapter 12, “Curly Bill, Ringo and Billy”--the first two being outlaws wh died mysterious deaths and the last being Billy Breakenridge, onetime deputy sheriff of Sheriff Behan and author of Helldorado.

Editor

Hardback · 7 1/2 by 10 1/4 inches
599 pages · 350 photos, maps and illustrations!

Brand New Book
First Edition - Limited Printing
Signed by the Author

with an introduction by
Robert G. McCubbin

Personalized Inscription Included

Volume I voted Best Non-fiction book for 2002
on Lawman-Outlaw history by
The Western-Outlaw-Lawman History Association (WOLA) 

Volume I named as one of two finalists in the prestigious
Spur Awards given by the Western Writers of
America Association in 2002

    Here are some unsolicited comments from satisfied customers who have bought and read Wyatt Earp, A Biography of the Legend:

"...a big, heavy, beautiful book, the best job of publishing that this reviewer has seen in a while.... There is just too much information in this book to adequately describle it.... Every person eith even a mild interest in earpiana should own a copy... even if they have to throw away two or three others to make room for it."
      --Ben Trawick, author and historian, Tombstone, AZ

"Silva’s book is the result of 14 years of meticulous research.... [It] tackles the controversies surround this legendary figure in order to provide an in-depth analysis of both myth and reality. [The book is] a history of the post-Civil War era of the great cattle drives... [and] a background of the evolution of the Weastern gunfighter--- from the reality of the 1860s to the myths of Hollywood. Lee Silva’s biography of Wyatt Earp may well be the definitive one."
      --Phil Spangenberger, Guns & Ammo magazine

"... your gifted and marvelous Vol. I Wyatt Earp. It is the source I have been waiting for all my life.... Let there be a Pultzer Prize for Literature... Awarded to your effort! The photo annotations alone are worth a Ph.D.! This book is an education long overdue, and you alone have mastered it.”
      --James H. Knaup, Hillsboro Beach, FL

"Never before was I so saddened to conclude a book... Not only [is] all the material on Wyatt addictive, leaving one craving for more and for which you always satisfied the hunger, but I [am] very impriessed by the quality and style.... It [has] that 1880s look to it. And the photographs---wow!"
      --Ernest mendoza, Selma, CA

"Sometime in the year 2881 ---when all the possible Wyatt Earp biographies are officially declared to have been written---scholars and Earpiana zealots will be certain to... deem the four Silva volumes to be far and away the most complete and authhoritative."
      --R.C. House, WWA Roundup magizine

"Without a doubt, Wyatt Earp: A Biography of the Legend, Volume I. The Cowtown Years is the most comprehensive account ever produced of the famous lawman’s early years.... No writer before has so thoroughly zeroed in on the years prior to Tombstone.... And no writer before has assembled such a complete chronicle."
      --Candy Moulton, Wild West magazine