If "Friendly Planet Guides" had been around 130 years ago, they might have written something like this. An eclectic collection of observations about towns, means of travel and culture west of the Mississippi set in the 1880s.
Warning: This "real West" guide may cause some mental anguish in reconciling it with preconceptions based on novels and movies.
An interesting book written from letters, publications and gives a perspective of the American West. It is a travel guide with information about different cities and regions. All written with a focus on the year 1880. Towns like Deadwood, Tombstone, Leadville and Dodge City are covered.
The book gives you practical advice on travel, accommodation, sights such us Yellowstone and people you could meet. It gives information on costs of food, entertainment and areas to visit and avoid. It is a great book for getting a picture of the Wild West around the 1880s.
This book essentially reads as an 1880’s travel guide to the relatively new frontier-the Wild West. There’s mentions of food and accommodations-or lack of-as well as highlights of important town establishments, (future) national parks, and few big (and notorious) mentions to round out this odd little read.
A little bit ambiguous, a lot of important things are missed (such as the end of some of the most famous characters of the wild west), the way is wirtten it's maybe be not the best for someone looking for an introduction to the subject.
While a bit repetitive in parts and lacking in desired detail in others, this book is an enjoyable 'travel guide' to the Wild West. Featuring hotel reviews, route recommendations and prices, as well as famous faces, it's an easy but fun read that isn't taxing in the slightest.
A "travel guide" written as if it was set in the frontier. Cute, but could have had a bit more meat to it and a bit more interesting trivia. I'd hand this to someone without a lot of knowledge of this era as an introduction to the history.