Wanted, Robert M. Utley
Wanted, Robert M. Utley
List: $16.99 | Sale: $11.89
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Wanted
The Outlaw Lives of Billy the Kid and Ned Kelly

Author: Robert M. Utley

Narrator: Tom Perkins

Unabridged: 7 hr 16 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/17/2015


Synopsis

The oft-told exploits of Billy the Kid and Ned Kelly survive vividly in the public imaginations of their respective countries, the United States and Australia. But the outlaws' reputations are so weighted with legend and myth that the truth of their lives has become obscure. In this adventure-filled double biography, Robert M. Utley reveals the true stories and parallel courses of the two notorious contemporaries who lived by the gun, were executed while still in their twenties, and remain compelling figures in the folklore of their homelands.

Billy was a fun-loving, expert sharpshooter who excelled at escape and lived on the run after indictment for his role in the Lincoln Country War. Bush-raised Ned, the son of an Irish convict father and Irish mother, was a man whose outrage against British colonial authority inspired him to steal cattle and sheep, kill three policemen, and rob banks for the benefit of impoverished Irish sympathizers. Utley recounts the exploits of these notorious young men with accuracy and appeal. He discovers their profound differences, despite their shared fates, and illuminates the worlds in which they lived on opposite sides of the globe.

About Robert M. Utley

Robert M. Utley is the award-winning author of more than twenty books on western American history, including Sitting Bull and Lone Star Lawmen. He made his career in the National Park Service, rising to the position of chief historian and assistant director of the service. He lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Randy on December 14, 2015

Considering that Wanted: The Outlaw Lives of Billy the Kid and Ned Kelly contains the biographies of two legendary and mythical figures in their respective countries, my first thought about this book was that it is awfully short. The author admits more in-depth biographies of the two exist elsewhere......more

Goodreads review by Bill on June 07, 2023

The most surprising element of the real Billy the Kid is the probability that he was born to Irish-Catholic immigrants in New York City as Henry McCarty. The author is unsure of that as his true family history. Bill Bonney remains a mystery. The Lincoln County War is at the center of the story and co......more

Goodreads review by Dan on February 18, 2024

The mythology that surrounds these two historical characters is tremendous. Thankfully, very little of that is in this book. Mr. Utley does the best he can to cut through all the bluster, garbage and corruption, bringing the reader to the most accurate picture of these two men who were essentially c......more

Goodreads review by Mark on July 27, 2024

This is an adequate biography of Billy The Kid, and an insufficient account of Ned Kelly. The information is scattered, but the book is interesting and reflective. The final chapter, though, the Conclusion, reads like a twenty page add-on of things that came to mind to late to fit into the previous......more

Goodreads review by Delanie on November 30, 2024

Billy the Kid's story was more boring and legal than I ever thought but I thoroughly enjoined Ned Kelly's story! It's a crime (get it) I haven't heard of him sooner! The most interesting part of the book was chapter 14's jail break, look forward to it! Warning author is racist, everyone in the story......more