The West of Billy the Kid

In The West of Billy the Kid, renowned authority Frederick Nolan has assembled a comprehensive photo gallery of the life and times of Billy the Kid. In text and in more than 250 images -- many of them published here for the first time -- Nolan recreates the life Billy lived and the places and people he knew. This unique assemblage is complemented by maps and a full biography that incorporates Nolan's original research, adding fresh depth and detail to the Kid's story and the lives and backgrounds of those who witnessed the events of his life and death.Here are the faces of Billy's family, friends, and enemies: John Tunstall and John Chisum, Sheriff Pat Garrett and Governor Lew Wallace, Jimmy Dolan and Bob Olinger, Alexander McSween and Paulita Maxwell, and many others. Here are Santa Fe and Silver City as Billy the Kid saw them, Lincoln, Las Vegas, and Tascosa. Recent photographs show the Kid's haunts as they appear today.Nolan reminds us that, despite his legendary, even mythical, portrayal in perhaps a thousand books and films, Billy the Kid was real. He was a young man whose reckless life and violent death in frontier New Mexico made an indelible mark on the history of the Southwest and a permanent impression on imaginations throughout the world. Here, at last, is his authentic life.