Shot All to Hell by Mark Lee Gardner recounts the thrilling life of Jesse James, Frank James, the Younger brothers, and the most famous bank robbery of all time.
Follow the Wild West's most celebrated gang of outlaws as they step inside Northfield's First National Bank and back out on the streets to square off with heroic citizens who risked their lives to defend justice in Minnesota.
With compelling details that chronicle the two-week chase that followed--the near misses, the fateful mistakes, and the bloody final shootout on the Watonwan River, Shot All to Hell is a galloping true tale of frontier justice from the author of To Hell on a Fast Horse: The Untold Story of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett, Mark Lee Gardner.
What made the celebrated James-Younger gang risk it all in Minnesota, and how did a town of heroic citizens bring them to their knees?
- Meticulously Researched History: An authoritative account that separates fact from legend, drawing on new discoveries and primary sources to tell the true story of the infamous raid.
- The Northfield Raid: A minute-by-minute chronicle of the day the James-Younger gang stepped into the First National Bank and met their match in the heroic citizens of a small Minnesota town.
- Bushwhacker Aftermath: An exploration of how the brutal legacy of the Civil War and Missouri's guerrilla conflicts shaped the most celebrated and feared outlaws of the American West.
- Eyewitness Accounts: The desperate two-week chase told through the eyes of the possemen, deadeye citizens, and captured gang members, culminating in a bloody final shootout on the Watonwan River.
About the Author :
Mark Lee Gardner is the author of Rough Riders, To Hell on a Fast Horse, and Shot All to Hell, which received multiple awards, including a Spur Award from Western Writers of America. An authority on the American West, Gardner has appeared on PBS's American Experience, as well as on the History Channel, the Travel Channel, and on NPR. He has written for the Los Angeles Times, True West, Wild West, American Cowboy, and New Mexico Magazine. He lives with his family in Cascade, Colorado.
Review :
"A freewheeling, yet meticulously researched, dual biography....Gardner's passion for his subject shines through on every page." - History Book Club
"A superbly written story, utterly enthralling and unforgettable. The first edition of this book is well worth collecting." - Santa Fe New Mexican
"Absorbing." - Sacramento Bee
"As gripping as any thriller." - Library Journal
"Concise and fast-moving ...thrilling....[Gardner] uses meticulous research to give Garrett his due as more than just 'the man who shot Billy the Kid.' This dual biography of the Kid and Garrett goes beyond the books, songs, films and legends that have nurtured the generally accepted lore that Billy the Kid is a folk hero and Garrett a villain." - Rocky Mount Telegram
"Digging beneath the myths and melodrama, [Gardner] begins in Las Vegas during Christmas week, 1880, when the capture and confinement of Billy the Kid made national headlines... Gardner's extensive research and authoritative approach ground this compelling historical recreation." - Publishers Weekly
"Rollicking. ... Equal parts violent melodrama and meticulous procedural... with enough bloody action to engage readers enthralled by tales of good versus evil." - New York Times Book Review
"Rewarding. ... Gardner's re-creation of the Northfield Raid... orchestrates the often-unwieldy particulars of the event with considerable virtuosity. ... It would be hard to imagine a more thorough account." - Washington Post
"Thrilling." - Kansas City Star
"To Hell on a Fast Horse...captures new dimensions of Old West legends Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid....a lively, fact-packed, shoot-'em-up tale." - Colorado Springs Independent
"An elegant narrative that's as entertaining as it is historically accurate... A must-read." - Publishers Weekly
"Superb. ... Mr. Gardner earns an A+ for his research and an A++ for his writing. - New York Journal of Books
"Action packed...A gripping read and probably tells all there is to tell about a legendary group of psychopaths." - Kirkus
"[This] bullet-by-bullet account... sheds considerable light on a neglected aspect of the gang's life of crime... well done." - Booklist
"Engaging....the author captures Garrett's tenacity, which finally brought Billy's career to an end." - Washington Post
"Evocative...Gardner renders a time, place and a people with sincerity and accuracy." - Santa Fe Reporter
"Gardner uses original eyewitness accounts and newspaper reports at the time, both of which add a you-are-there quality. He also delves into the century-long mystery surrounding Garrett's murder years later, and arrives at a surprising conclusion." - New York Post
"Gardner writes in a detailed, dramatic journalistic style....this isn't 'just another book' on the subject." - Albuquerque Journal
"It's a mystery why Billy the Kid is such a beloved Western figure. He was a punk, an outlaw murdering in cold blood. But we love him, and we are suspicious of the sheriff who brought him to justice." - Denver Post
"The double-helix relationship between Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett is one of the abiding fascinations of the West. No one has come closer than Mark Lee Gardner to capturing their twin destinies and their inevitable final collision....you can almost smell the gunsmoke and the sweat of the saddles. " - Hampton Sides, author of the New York Times bestsellers Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers
