The Last Gunfight - by Jeff Guinn (Paperback)

About the Book

Originally published: New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011.

Book Synopsis

A New York Times bestseller, Jeff Guinn's definitive, myth-busting account of the most famous gunfight in American history reveals who Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the Clantons and McLaurys really were and what the shootout was all about--"the most thorough account of the gunfight and its circumstances ever published" (The Wall Street Journal)

On the afternoon of October 26, 1881, in a vacant lot in Tombstone, Arizona, a confrontation between eight armed men erupted in a deadly shootout. The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral would shape how future generations came to view the Old West. Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the Clantons became the stuff of legends, symbolic of a frontier populated by good guys in white hats and villains in black ones. It's a colorful story--but the truth is even better.

Drawing on new material from private collections--including diaries, letters, and Wyatt Earp's own hand-drawn sketch of the shootout's conclusion--as well as archival research, Jeff Guinn gives us a startlingly different and far more fascinating picture of what actually happened that day in Tombstone and why.

Review Quotes

"""The Last Gunfight"" is a portrayal of criminality, greed, ambition, rivalry, fidelity, and law enforcement gone awry. Add in the aspects of vengeance, lust, and enduring love, and you have a riveting book every bit as good as, if not better than, "Go Down Together", Jeff Guinn's much-lauded book about Bonnie and Clyde."

--Lynn R. Bailey, Tombstone historian and author of "Too Tough to Die"

"A gripping revisionist account of the famed 1881 showdown. . . . Exhaustively researched, stylishly written. . . . As grimly compelling as a Greek tragedy."

--"Publishers Weekly "(Starred Review)

"An absorbing, meticulous account of the famous O.K. Corral gunfight as it really happened. . . . Guinn places his complex and nuanced story firmly within the context of the evolving Western frontier. . . . A great story."

--"Kirkus Reviews"

"Guinn . . . delivers another double-barrel blast of history and true crime. . . . Superbly detailed . . . . A thorough, thrilling account of the crime and its influence on the history of the West. . . . Absolutely buy this dazzler."

--"Library Journal Express "(Starred Review)

"Jeff Guinn has come up with a new angle and approach to the events of that bloody day in Tombstone. Without that gunfight, Wyatt Earp would have never become a household name a hundred years later. Guinn delves into the myth and separates it from the facts. A terrific read about the West's most famous lawman."

--Clive Cussler

"Jeff Guinn is a straight shooter when it comes to facts. He investigated the story from every imaginable angle, separating truth from tall tale, and now he delivers a factual account of what happened--and why--that's every bit as riveting as the fantasy."

--David Martindale, "Star-Telegram "(Fort Worth, TX)

"Jeff Guinn took readers down the back roads of Louisiana in his book "Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde." He's back in "The Last Gunfight", displaying the impeccable research that is his trademark. . . . Guinn's story is what really happened. . . . A terrific read."

Craig Wilson, "USA TODAY"

"Scrupulously details how this isolated act of violence attained such heroic status. . . . A deeply researched and colorfully written history of one of those dramatic oddments of Americana that never fails to captivate us."

--Dale L. Walker, "Dallas Morning News"

"The most thorough account of the gunfight and its circumstances ever published."

--"The Wall Street Journal"

Advance Praise for

"The Last Gunfight"

"Jeff Guinn gives us not only the clashing egos and the mythic gunslingers, but also the larger social forces that converged on a roistering mining town in southeastern Arizona that fateful day in 1881. The result is a kind of anti-Western: The cliches are stripped away, the black hats removed, the 'rugged individualists' unmasked, leaving us with real human beings who are swayed and shaped by the forces of history, and trapped in time."

"--Hampton Sides, author of Blood and Thunder"

About the Author

Jeff Guinn is the bestselling author of numerous books, including Go Down Together, The Last Gunfight, Manson, The Road to Jonestown, War on the Border, and Waco. He lives in Fort Worth, Texas, and is a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame.