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Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies  By  cover art

Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies

By: Bill O'Reilly, David Fisher
Narrated by: Tom Wopat
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Publisher's summary

The must-have companion to Bill O'Reilly's historic series Legends and Lies: The Real West, a fascinating, eye-opening look at the truth behind the western legends we all think we know.

How did Davy Crockett save President Jackson's life only to end up dying at the Alamo? Was the Lone Ranger based on a real lawman-and was he an African American? What amazing detective work led to the capture of Black Bart, the "gentleman bandit" and one of the west's most famous stagecoach robbers? Did Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid really die in a hail of bullets in South America? Generations of Americans have grown up on TV shows, movies and books about these western icons. But what really happened in the Wild West? All the stories you think you know, and others that will astonish you, are here--some heroic, some brutal and bloody, all riveting. Included are the ten legends featured in Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies docuseries -from Kit Carson to Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickok to Doc Holliday-- accompanied by two bonus chapters on Daniel Boone and Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley.

Frontier America was a place where instinct mattered more than education, and courage was necessary for survival. It was a place where luck made a difference and legends were made. Heavily illustrated with spectacular artwork that further brings this history to life, and told in fast-paced, immersive narrative, Legends and Lies is an irresistible, adventure-packed ride back into one of the most storied era of our nation's rich history.

©2015 Warm Springs Productions, LLC and Life of O'Reilly Productions (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

What listeners say about Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies

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Old West

Excellent narration! Learned many facts
and characters I was not aware of before taking this journey! Can't wait for Oreilly's next production!

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8 people found this helpful

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Great book

While I really enjoyed the book as I love the western stories, this book was more of a combination of mini books or stories/ bios and the book didn't flow like the Legends and Lies patriot book. If you know nothing about the characters then it is a great overview. If you have read other stories, I doubt you will gain much knowledge here. I suppose you could dedicate an entire book to each individual mentioned in the book and still not cover all of their life but I just wish this book would have dug a bit deeper or maybe eliminated a few characters so more discussion on the others would have been possible.

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6 people found this helpful

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Readers Digest Excuse for History

What disappointed you about Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies?

I like Bill O'Reilly, but this book like his killing books is superficial. It pretends to be history, but the presentation of evidence and and analysis is thin. If you know little or nothing about the history of the Wild West - as do most Americans - you will find it entertaining, which it is. However, if you've spent any time with really good authors or historians, you will see these stories as shallow.

What could Bill O'Reilly and David Fisher have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

They could have dug deeper and broadened their research beyond popular sources. For example, in the Kit Carson story, if you really want to know about Kit Carson, read Hampton Sides' Blood and Thunder, not this paltry rendition. However, it the chapter captures your fancy, maybe you'll dig deeper.

Another example is the Custer chapter. You have to listen or read between the lines to realize that Custer only participated in two significant battles with tribes in the West - the battle of the Washita, in which he attached a peaceful encampment on a reservation and called it a major victory - despite the loss of Major Elliot, and his demise at the Little Big Horn. Entirely dismissed are the excellent sources by Lakota historians including Joseph M. Marshall, PhD whose work is much more carefully and thoroughly researched than this book.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies?

I would not have cut anything. However, I would have augmented most of the material considerably by spending more time on research, including more varied historical sources.

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6 people found this helpful

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Great for wild west history buffs

This was a great book! Tells the facts from the myths. A must read/listen book!

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loved it

its a great book of the old west. you learn something new with each chapter

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Made a long dive easy

Nice narrative style and he clearly says what is surmised or uncertain. If you grew up on westerns, this will be a delight

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5 people found this helpful

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Excellent book

this was really good. ...didn't want to stop listening. Listened to it in less than a day. If you love history, you'll love this

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4 people found this helpful

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To tell the truth

Nice to hear the real stories about real people. The old west was dirty, and glorious. You did good Bill. As always!

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3 people found this helpful

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Great look at history of the west

A great look at the history of settling the American West. give insights to the stories of the people that have been portrayed throughout history. it also shows how history repeats itself.

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fascinating

choice of historical figures is interesting. compared to other similar books this is focused more on the old west. love tom wopat but at times attempts to create voices for different characters and attempts at accents were a bit distracting.

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3 people found this helpful