Historian Craig Crease knows Hickok. He knows the mythological Hickok and he knows the real man too. Or, at least as well as someone who could know a person who has been dead since 1876. In Crease’s new book, the author strips away the many years of mythmaking that fostered a bloodthirsty gunman and revealed a calm, calculating, and friendly man. However, Crease also reveals that Hickok was not one to shy away from conflict when he felt it was necessary. The author admits many books about Hickok have been written in the past, but most of these are over 50 years old. and therefore have not had the advantage of using newly discovered material which Crease carefully curated for this new biography. The Wanderer stands on the shoulders of the monumental work by the late Joseph G. Rosa, but at the same time adds valuable and critical contributions to the study of one of the most symbolic figures of the Wild West – a deadly gunfighter, honorable lawman, and doting husband who hated the spotlight but could never escape its brightness even in death.
Erik J. Wright Assistant Editor / The Tombstone Epitaph
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