About:
Bandit Heaven: The Hole-in-the-Wall Gangs and the Final Chapter of the Wild West by Tom Calvin tells about remote locations in Wyoming and Utah and the criminals that used to hide at. Mr. Calvin is a best selling author, editor, and commentator.
- 304 pages
- Publisher : St. Martin’s Press
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 1250282403
My rating for Bandit Heaven – 5
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More Books by Tom Calvin*
Thoughts:
There are many myths about the American Wild West, most of them romantic notions of honorable gunslingers. Train robbers, religious persons, law enforcing sheriffs, and of course cowboys are part of that myths which has defined the West has perpetuated not just in American, but the whole world.
This is an engaging book, filled with adventure, history, and wit. In fact, the things I truly liked in Bandit Heaven by Tom Calvin are the dark jokes, zingers, and the fact that the author couldn’t let a good story get lost in the narrative.
While the book mostly deals with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s Hole in the Wall gang, there are plenty of other fascinating characters in it. Many of them show up and disappear after the author managed to enthrall us with their escapades, to the point where often I forgot I was reading history and not a novel.
Focusing on outlaw the hideouts of Hole in the Wall, Brown’s Hole, and Robbers Roost, the book mostly takes place in those areas, today around Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. Between robbing trains, and rustling (stealing) horses and cattle, the outlaws worked on farms, and even had families.
The book, as the title indicates, is about the sunset of the Wild West. The outlaws can no longer outrun justice, and technology has changed the ways of the world.
I felt this book gave me a better understanding of how the West was, it’s mystic, charm, and eventual ending. The author obviously has a passion for the subject, as he shares his enthusiasm on every page.
Buy Bandit Heaven from Amazon.com*
More Books by Tom Calvin*
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I got this book for free.
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account
