Law school totally ruined me for the type of biography where they say: “On that foggy morning, Caesar woke up in a tizzy because he had a nightmare that he never told anybody about,” with no attribution and no way they could possibly could have obtained that insight. I tried to read one of the chief’s pop history tomes after my first year of law school and almost clawed out my eyes screaming about the lack of citations. Therefore, I appreciate the heavily annotated nature of this biography, which has a footnote at the end of every sentence just like a law review article. The thesis of this book is that Jesse James was not the fun-loving Robin Hood character of western movies, but rather a psychopathic pro-slavery terrorist. (The author makes a point of using the word “terrorist” every few sentences, in case we did not get it the first time.)
I have always been sort of interested in the connection between pulpy novels, the mythology of the western, and the civil war — perhaps because my atrocious education is limited to what I have learned from spaghetti westerns, Ken Burns documentaries, and children’s books. Also, like Trane, I am descended from Missourians so it is interesting to read about Missouri history and the role of Missouri in the civil war.
So far, I have two criticisms. First, there are not nearly enough pictures! Wasn’t Jesse James a celebrity during his lifetime? And yet they can only come up with two pictures of him, and there is only one Wanted poster? Ridiculous. I also get a little bored of the tactical war discussions, but I understand that this type of thing is very alluring to the civil war re-enactors, who outnumber me.
I have learned lots of good slang, like “bushwacker” and “redleg.” I am starting to feel vaguely guilty about liking southern bourbon so much because it seems like the drug of choice for bushwackers. And did you know there used to be a political faction called the “Know-nothings?” So refreshingly honest. Did you know Lawrence, Kansas was founded by abolitionists and was a crazy hotbed of social liberalism (redleggism, in other words)? I have learned all of this, and Jesse James is only about 18. Will keep you posted.
