Tuesday, January 05, 2021

Books read in 2021: No. 1 -- Doc Holliday: A Family Portrait


Started: Jan. 1
Finished: Jan. 5

Notes: As might be expected considering the subject matter, I picked up this book during a trip to Tombstone, Arizona, a couple of years ago, site of the legendary gunfight at the OK Corral, in which the famous (or infamous) Doc Holliday took part. This one could be especially revealing as it's from a descendent of Holliday. It looks to be well noted and indexed, but I would expect nothing else from a book from the University of Oklahoma Press; I've read some of that publisher's books before and they've always been quite enlightening about the Old West.

Mini review: This is what all history books should endeavor towards. Entertaining while not flippant, informative without being boring, and full of notes which actually add knowledge. The author obviously has something of a Holliday leaning, but that's to be expected, and in truth her bias isn't overly blatant, allowing the text to be relatively fair to the Doc and those involved in the old Clanton-Earp feud. If you enjoy Old West, non-fiction, I highly suggest you read this. Even if you think you know Doc Holliday, there will be things here to learn, mostly about Doc's earlier days before heading west but also a few things about his days in Texas, Colorado, Arizona, etc.

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