Dodge City

Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West

By: Tom Clavin

Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd

Dodge City, Kansas, is a place of legend. The town that started as a small military site exploded with the coming of the railroad, cattle drives, eager miners, settlers, and various entrepreneurs passing through to populate the expanding West. Before long, Dodge City’s streets were lined with saloons and brothels and its populace was thick with gunmen, horse thieves, and desperadoes of every sort. By the 1870s, Dodge City was known as the most violent and turbulent town in the West.

Enter Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. Young and largely self-trained men, the lawmen led the effort that established frontier justice and the rule of law in the American West, and did it in the wickedest place in the United States. When they moved on, Wyatt to Tombstone and Bat to Colorado, a tamed Dodge was left in the hands of Jim Masterson. But before long Wyatt and Bat, each having had a lawman brother killed, returned to that threatened western Kansas town to team up to restore order again in what became known as the Dodge City War before riding off into the sunset.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Tom Clavin's Dodge City tells the true story of their friendship, romances, gunfights, and adventures, along with the remarkable cast of characters they encountered along the way (including Wild Bill Hickock, Jesse James, Doc Holliday, Buffalo Bill Cody, John Wesley Hardin, Billy the Kid, and Theodore Roosevelt) that has gone largely untold—lost in the haze of Hollywood films and western fiction, until now.

Critic reviews

<p>"Giving extensive background information about not only these two men but also their families and their lives before Dodge, the book presents a feast of history in the Mississippi area during the Civil War and the subsequent westward migration. <b>Lloyd's nuanced voice goes well with the engaging text. He enunciates clearly, is confident in expression and tone, and makes this a delightful listening experience for those who love the history of the Old West.</b>" - <i>AudioFile Magazine <br><br>"</i>Read by John Bedford Lloyd, whose<b> riveting narration makes the recording impossible to turn off</b>." - <i>ElectricReview.com</i><br><br>"<b>Narration by John Bedford Lloyd is superb. This volume will appeal to anyone with an interest in the Old West's myths and larger-than-life characters</b>." -<i>Library Journal</i></p>

Great nonfiction western

Powerful, dramatic history of the Earps, Mastersons, Doc Holliday, and Dodge City. Highly recommended for fans of westerns and history.

Well researched

This presentation/book went beyond the lore of the greatly dramatized dime store novels, movies and media accounts. The author painstakingly researched all of the individuals he wrote about.

Dodge

I love and live for western movies, I love westerns.
Great book for fiction. Which I love the most.

Makes any movie look dull

This book is spectacular. Any movie based on these legendary characters is a waste compared to this gem. It’s laugh out loud funny and crazy wild. The stuff that happened during the Wild West was just outrageous. Tom Clavin brings these persons to life and three dimensionally. John Bedford Lloyd perfectly captures the tone. What a spectacular narrating job. 5 stars all around.

Highly Informative

I enjoyed the audio book. It was very well written and the narrator was superb.