Frank and Jesse James Hardcover – January 1, 2011

I like genuine American history and this book seems like it. It was referred to me by a popular historian and provides a window into the 1860s that I had never seen. It describes what was actually going on, not what popular myths describe. We get to see actual accounts with actual quotes from political personalities, as well as the common citizen and see how absolutely brutal life was in this area at that time. We can see how anyone growing up in that area was raised on uninhibited violence and was exposed to seeing violence and death as a regular occurrence. Both the Union and Confederate forces were equally brutal and death was far more prevalent than most present day folks are aware of. The myths about the James brothers are not seen here. Their actual behavior is shown to be what we expect from any modern day criminals of this nature by true accounts from those that knew them well.

Ted was THE James Gang historian. We were buddies at Vanderbilt and neighbors at West Hall in the 1970's. I heard lately he died of COPD in Maryland - sad. My dad called Ted, me and our crew 'The Gun Hippies.'We used to go to some of my family properties in TN and let loose with a variety of classic firearms. Being 'fond of the grog' as we used to say, we would shoot up bottles after properly disposing of the contents in an eco-friendly way - lol. Those old Colts, Mausers, Brownings and muzzle loaders were quite fun on those days so long ago. We were two young men with our lives ahead of us, laughing in the sun!Who knows - maybe Ted is talking to Frank, Jesse and the boys right now. Ted was a consumate niche historian, author and my friend. Goodbye Ted, may you RIP.

I just received this book today and I can't wait to read it. It's in great shape for being used and I'm sure it will be very informative.

Much has been written about this icon of American outlaw mythology. If you are into the facts in detail, and an even-handed view of this subject, then I would highly recommend this book. If you are looking for an exciting tale, full of action and mayhem, you might wish to look elsewhere. All in all, it's a fine read with a lot of facts, and would make an excellent text source for a univerity class. There is a lot of interesting material within, such as Frank James' life after his brother's death. It's well worth the price of admission into this world.

This is high-quality 19th century history that captures the tension with which the James brothers lived. It places the reader in Frank and Jesse's historical and geographical context. Above all, it is fair. Yeatman lets the reader decide. Frank emerged as particularly complex, because he was able to straddle the life of a respectable taxpayer and a dangerous outlaw.This work is particularly poignant, because of current U.S. debates about government spying, habeas corpus, posse comitatus and many other issues that matter as much today, as they did in the days leading up to the Civil War and Reconstruction.Yeatman's handling of the James brothers Civil War material is particularly deft.Yeatman's work is filled with numerous historical gems, such as Bess Truman's family's connection to the James brothers; Phil Sheridan's connection to the bombing of the James Sammeul home.

This was a birthday present for a reader of Westerns. While it is not the with heavy research as in THE LAST REBEL format or theme, it tells a story, in detail, and there is in addition commentary and summary of the recent outlaw's exhumation and exam. If you are a fan of the genre, you will find a great list of notes. Basically, my gift will never find its way to a table of donations and resale. Plus, now I can get MY copy back! I should add I know this book took years to write, and I appreciate the little new info on Jesse's time in Tennessee and photos of his houses. That new stuff had to took time. .

These books were a birthday gift.The recipient was very pleased with them.

If you are looking for a book that exhaustively documents the entire adult lives of its two outlaw subjects, then this book is for you. If, however, you are looking for good storytelling befitting the James legend, you should look elsewhere. Author Ted Yeatman has done all he can to explode the myths surrounding the James Gang and to show them for what they were; namely a group of violent desperados unworthy of the considerable public sympathy and reverance they have received. Contrary to legend, the James brothers were not forced into banditry by their service as Confederate guerillas. In fact, that had been pardoned and could have led peaceful postwar lives had they so chose.Overall, Yeatman's arguments and extensive research (there's over 140 pages of notes and exhibits) would go down much smoother if he could write with the touch of a Stephen Ambrose. As it is, his prose often takes the excitement out of what was a pair of very interesting lives.