Such Men as Billy the Kid: The Lincoln County War Reconsidered

"A lawyerly regard for truth, accuracy and the written record. . . . [It's] a tonic to the hysterical and sensational accounts of the past."-Chicago Tribune. "A lively, lucid, compelling account of complex and confusing events about which scholars are still puzzling."-Washington Times. "Dispassionate yet lively, this book sets Billy's career and the conflicts in Lincoln County in context. The engaging narrative will please and provoke scholar, well-versed buff, and newcomer alike."-Library Journal. "By focusing on the uniqueness of the Lincoln County War and the individuals involved in it, Jacobsen expands our knowledge of the events. . . . A thorough and well-documented description of one of the western frontier's best known instances of violence."-Western Historical Quarterly. This story of greed, violence, and death has entered American folklore through the mythologizing of the career of Billy the Kid and also through a tendency to see the Lincoln County War as emblematic of frontier lawlessness. Jacobsen investigates the evidence-public sentiment, court records, and the actions of the participants-to come up with answers. Joel Jacobsen is an assistant attorney general for the State of New Mexico specializing in criminal appeals.