Billy the Kid
The Endless Ride
25 July 2008
Description
"This might be the best Billy the Kid book to date." —Fritz Thompson, Albuquerque Journal
In this revisionist biography, award-winning historian Michael Wallis re-creates the rich anecdotal saga of Billy the Kid (1859–1881), a young man who became a legend in his time and remains an enigma to this day. In an extraordinary evocation of the legendary Old West, Wallis demonstrates why the Kid has remained one of our most popular folk heroes. Filled with dozens of rare images and period photographs, Billy the Kid separates myth from reality and presents an unforgettable portrait of this brief and violent life.
Reviews
"Michael Wallis does a scrupulous and persuasive sifting of the evidence about Billy’s life and activities." — Larry McMurtry, New York Review of Books
"Michael Wallis’s Billy the Kid is the closest anyone has come to a definitive biography of the most mythical figure of the American frontier." — Allen Barra, AmericanHeritage.com
"Research became a pleasure reading Michael Wallis’s books about Pretty Boy Floyd and the Oklahoma oil barons for one of my novels. I couldn’t wait to read Wallis’s Billy the Kid, prompted by the author’s scholarship and readable style. Following Wallis’s search for the real Billy the Kid is a fascinating experience." — Elmore Leonard
"Wallis’s reconstruction of the Kid’s exploits is engrossing…Over the decades, countless books have been written about the infamous outlaw, and this is surely one of the best." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"In this objective, non-sensationalistic biography of legendary outlaw Billy the Kid, historian Wallis…painstakingly sifts fact from fiction." — Kirkus Reviews
"This well-written and engaging biography is aimed primarily at general readers interested in the West and provides a clear, concise, and reliable account of Billy; Wallis is careful not to make his story so complicated that it confuses readers." — Library Journal
Also By: Michael Wallis 
The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner Party in the Age of Manifest Destiny
Paperback, 2018
Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence
Finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award
A Publishers Weekly Holiday Guide History Pick“A book so gripping it can scarcely be put down.......
The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner Party in the Age of Manifest Destiny
E Book, 2017
Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence
Finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award
A Publishers Weekly Holiday Guide History Pick“A book so gripping it can scarcely be put down.......
The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner Party in the Age of Manifest Destiny
Hardback, 2017
Named “Best Book of 2017” by the Wild West History Association
Cutting through 160 years of mythmaking, best-selling historian Michael Wallis presents the ultimate cautionary tale of America’s...
David Crockett: The Lion of the West
Paperback, 2012
"Vivid, Comprehensible . . . cuts through decades of mythmaking." —Texas Monthly
Pretty Boy: The Life and Times of Charles Arthur Floyd
E Book, 2011
"This engaging biography exactly and vividly catches the tone of a region, a time, and a man."—Larry McMurtry
