Product Description

"You can't beat this story for drama. . . . An omnibus of everything ever known, spoken, or written about Doc Holliday."
-Publishers Weekly

"An engagingly written, persuasively argued, solidly documented work of scholarship that will surely take its place in the literature of the Old West."
-Booklist

In Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend, the historian Gary Roberts takes aim at the most complex, perplexing, and paradoxical gunfighter of the Old West, drawing on more than twenty years of research-including new primary sources-in his quest to separate the life from the legend. Doc Holliday was a study in contrasts: the legendary gunslinger who made his living as a dentist; the emaciated consumptive whose very name struck fear in the hearts of his enemies; the degenerate gambler and alcoholic whose fierce loyalty to his friends compelled him, more than once, to risk his own life; and the sidekick whose near-mythic status rivals that of the West's greatest heroes. With lively details of Holliday's spirited exploits, his relationships with such Western icons as Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, this book sheds new light on one of the most mysterious figures of frontier history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42958 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780470128220
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Roberts, an authority on western history, takes on John Henry Holliday, legendary gunman, drinker, gambler and dentist (hence "Doc"), best known for some adroit shooting at the OK Corral on October 26, 1881. This is part biography, part debunking of myths and part archive of accounts of the lives of Holliday and the Earp Brothers written from the time they were alive up to the present. Roberts is effective in evoking the influences that formed his subject's character. Born in Georgia in 1851, Holliday absorbed the manliness and rebelliousness instilled in young men of his prosperous class in antebellum Southern culture. Holliday also acquired expertise in drinking, whoring and gambling, as well as a taste for violence. Roberts is measured in evaluating the myths associated with Holliday's exit from Georgia and his nomadic life in Texas, Colorado and Arizona. This brings the author to Tombstone, and the fray featuring Holliday and the Earps against the Clantons and McLaurys. You can't beat this story for drama, and Roberts provides a step-by-step account of the gunfight. Some chapters are unduly packed with Roberts's massive research. But without it, the book would not have been what the author plainly intends—an omnibus of everything ever known, spoken or written about Doc Holliday. Photos not seen by PW. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Doc Holliday, one of the most famous western gunfighters, died of tuberculosis at the ripe old age of 36. But he left behind him a legend so immense that, even with the addition of this effusively sourced biography, the truth about the man may never be known. There are a few facts: Holliday was a dentist, he became a gambler and a gunslinger, and he was involved in the infamous gunfight at the OK Corral. But around Holliday has been constructed (by scholars, by outlaw-turned-author Bat Masterson, and by various Hollywood moviemakers) a life story that is made up substantially of myth and misunderstanding. The real John Henry Holliday, according to Roberts, was "a man seen almost entirely through the eyes of others." Roberts' role here is a bit like that of a judge, examining the testimonies and deciding which witnesses to believe and which to discard. The result is an engagingly written, persuasively argued, solidly documented work of scholarship that will surely take its place in the literature of the Old West. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Who was Doc Holliday, the famed participant in the 1881 gunfight at OK Corral? Was he a killer and professional cutthroat, a reckless murderer, or a mild-mannered young man who would give aid to his friends, whatever the fight? Roberts (history, emeritus, Abraham Baldwin Coll.) considers these contrasting opinions as he relates John Henry "Doc" Holliday's life, a difficult task because Doc left no reminiscences, and the letters he wrote to family members were destroyed. The portrait that emerges is based on available newspaper stories and public records, which allow Roberts to show how Doc, who grew up in Georgia during the Civil War and received a DDS degree from the College of dental Surgery in Philadelphia, was a product of his circumstances. For example, he had tuberculosis and headed west in an effort to extend his life in the drier climate. Where the facts and reasons are not known, Roberts carefully considers the alternatives based upon the evidence. As he carefully points out, his work cannot be definitive but is an attempt-and a very sound one-to understand a man whose biography and legend will be forever entwined. Highly recommended for both public and academic libraries.
—Stephen H. Peters, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette. (Library Journal, March 15, 2006)

Roberts, an authority on western history, takes on John Henry Holliday, legendary gunman, drinker, gambler and dentist (hence "Doc"), best known for some adroit shooting at the OK Corral on October 26, 1881. This is part biography, part debunking of myths and part archive of accounts of the lives of Holliday and the Earp Brothers written from the time they were alive up to the present. Roberts is effective in evoking the influences that formed his subject's character. Born in Georgia in 1851, Holliday absorbed the manliness and rebelliousness instilled in young men of his prosperous class in antebellum Southern culture. Holliday also acquired expertise in drinking, whoring and gambling, as well as a taste for violence. Roberts is measured in evaluating the myths associated with Holliday's exit from Georgia and his nomadic life in Texas, Colorado and Arizona. This brings the author to Tombstone, and the fray featuring Holliday and the Earps against the Clantons and McLaurys. You can't beat this story for drama, and Roberts provides a step-by-step account of the gunfight. Some chapters are unduly packed with Roberts's massive research. But without it, the book would not have been what the author plainly intends—an omnibus of everything ever known, spoken or written about Doc Holliday. Photos not seen by PW. (Apr.) (Publishers Weekly, February 27, 2006)

Customer Reviews

Excellent research, splotchy presentation.
Any reader enjoying history, specifically the "Old West," will delight in the literary offerings associated with Tombstone in the 1880s. In particular, the Earp/Holliday/Cow-Boys saga is one with many tales, some based in fact, some in myth. Since the movies, "Tombstone" and "Wyatt Earp," we have been flooded with books centered on this fascinating story. The difficult part for a discerning reader however, is knowing which one is the closest to the "real" truth. I suspect we will never know which version encompasses the greatest percentage of accurate datapoints, but we still try. Gary Roberts has provided us with another chapter to consider, and while I consider Mr. Roberts a very skilled and masterful historian, he has had better efforts.

Roberts details the life of John Henry Holliday, from his birth in Georgia in 1851 to his death in Glenwood Springs, CO in 1887. The greatest portion of the book is spent during the time frame of Doc's introduction and frienship with the Earp brothers, but Roberts does spend time chronicaling Holliday's early life, including his foray into dentistry.

Much has been written and speculated regarding Holliday's reason(s) for leaving Georgia, although no definitive answer has been nailed down; Roberts is no exception here; rather, he presciently presents the primary theories of Doc's departure (a tainted affair with his cousin; or the health benefits of the western climate {Doc had consumption [TB]}; or escaping the grasp of the police in questioning a shooting that Doc may have been involved in). Take your pick, these seem to be the primary reasons historians provide for Doc's permanent departure of Georgia.

Doc basically drifted from Kansas to Texas, from dentistry to gambling. He made a name for himself as a gambler, and more important to future events, as a ready and willing gunfighter. During this period, and up to his death, Doc fought a range of emotions brought on by his omnipresent tuberculosis and his ever-increasing use of alcohol to combat his myriad aliments.

Roberts reports a variety of opinions of Doc, one of the most telling from Virgil Earp who said, "Doc was gentlemanly," and "a good dentist." Wyatt Earp remembered him as a "mad, merry scamp with heart of gold and nerves of steel." Bat Masterson was more critical, describing Doc as a mean drunk with a little-man complex. Masterson went on to say, "[he was] hot headed and impetuous and very much given to both drinking and quarreling, and among men who did not fear him, he was very much disliked." Other characterizations wof Doc seemed to middle those of Wyatt and Bat. Regardless, there is little doubt that the two movies present one of Doc's attributes quite accurately...he knew he was dying and had very little care who he confronted or why.

Doc was easily prickly when he was drinking, which was often, and when he was gambling. In one infamous instance, Doc added to his legend while at the faro table. Doc was dealing faro, and Ed Bailey was at Doc's table. Bailey continued to look at the "deadwood," the played or discarded cards (which was bad form and "not allowed") to which he received Doc's admonishment. Bailey continued to do so to which Doc pulled down a hand without showing his cards. Bailey went to pull his gun, but before he could unholster it, Doc had pulled his knife and "with one sideways sweep had caught Bailey right below the brisket." This was well chronicled in Tombstone, although the story was embellished under different circumstances.

Much of the Tombstone years have been well documented by Roberts however, this is where this biography hits a wall. Yes, the facts Roberts uncovers are well presented and well footnoted, but it reads as dry and spartan as a military manual on disassembling a rifle. Roberts had an opportunity to put his research into Doc in the form of a story, well footnoted, but with some panache and spirit. Instead, the Tombstone years are nothing more than snippets of research Roberts has uncovered shoved together in the form of chapters. Again, Mr. Roberts is very talented, but perhaps that is why this offering is so disappointing. It just doesn't measure up to his talent.

While I would still recommend this book for history and western buffs, be prepared for a solemn, academic read.

Writer and author
`Doc' Holliday, or, John Henry Holliday, a cold-blooded killer, or a man just trying to stay alive? Author, Gary L. Roberts did extensive research on Holliday, and many of those `Doc' came in contact with. From that research Roberts has put together a book that gives the reader a much better idea of whom `Doc' was, why he was like he was and the impact he had on history. The book, for me, dispelled faulty information I'd received about `Doc.' It also answered some of the questions I'd always had about `Doc.'
At the time I write this review I'm fifty-seven years young. During those fifty-seven years I've seen `Doc' portrayed as a bad guy, a good guy, a mysterious acquaintance of Wyatt Earp and all those things between. `Doc' was always an enigma in my mind. I just finished reading "Doc Holliday" by Gary L. Roberts and I must say I feel I now know the man, as much as he could be known by someone never having talked with him.
I was born just outside Kennett, Missouri; a state that harbored and made heroes out of people like Jesse James. I also spent twenty years as a `peace officer.' I think this added to my curiosity, and infatuation, with `Doc.' Gary L. Roberts has helped fill that void left by lack of information about `Doc' and therefore `quenched my thirst' concerning what he was really all about.
Do yourself a favor and read this book.

Richard Neal Huffman - the author of, Dreams In Blue: The Real Police (just another legend?) Confessions of a Serial Killer's Son

Getting to know the man behind the legend

In "Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend" Gary Roberts immediately establishes his credentials in historical research and although he comes from a life in academia, that never inhibits his storytelling ability. Roberts tells about a young Atlanta dentist, his family conflicts, the relationship with his catholic cousin Mattie Holliday, contracting tuberculosis and then moving west. Doc continues his dental practice in Dallas where he is attracted to saloon life and becomes a skilled gambler. In Ft. Griffin, Texas Kate Elder sets her sights on Doc and when trouble comes and a noose is about to be tied around Doc's neck Kate executes a daring escape plan and the two of them ride north to Dodge City, Kansas where they begin a tumultuous relationship.
Doc sets up a dental practice in the cattle town and establishes good relations with the likes of Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Luke Short and Eddie Foy. When a wild bunch of drunken cowboy's corner assistant city Marshall Wyatt Earp Doc hurries to his rescue. Wyatt is grateful to Doc for saving his life, and that was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.
Later they both wind up in Tombstone, Arizona. A corrupt political ring runs Cochise County and uses a cowboy faction as muscle. Wyatt's intent to run for Cochise County Sheriff on a ticket of law and order opens up a hornet's nest. When the showdown comes Doc joins Wyatt and his brothers on the side of law and order in the shootout at the OK Corral.
Ring lawyers accuse the Earps and Holliday of murder and take them to court. A twenty-eight day hearing, before Judge Spicer, frees Doc and the others but the cowboy's won't quit. They harass the mayor and Judge Spicer, ambush and wound Virgil Earp and assassinate Morgan Earp.
Roberts continues the post Tombstone story with Jail time for Doc in Denver and a shooting episode in Leadville. Then on November 8, 1887 Doc succumbs to tuberculosis and is buried in Linwood Cemetery at Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
You'll enjoy this engaging and informative book while at the same time you're getting to know the real man behind the legend.
Tom Barnes Author of "Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone."