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OverviewThe story of the American mining frontier can be traced through the ghost towns that dot the western landscape to this day, from the camps of California’s forty-niners to the twentieth-century ruins in the Nevada desert. These abandoned towns mark an epoch of high adventure, of quick wealth and quicker poverty, of gambling and gunslinging and hell-raising. Those who have seen the Old West movies sometimes think that the legends of the Wild West were invented by screenwriters. The ghost towns remain, and their battered ruins testify that the legends are true. Behind the tall tales is a history where a fortune could be made in a week and lost over the course of an evening. With a historian’s attention to fact and a novelist’s gift for dramatic storytelling, celebrated science fiction author Robert Silverberg brings these adventures back to life in the rowdy splendor of their heyday in Ghost Towns of the American West. History and travelers’ tales are woven together with clarity and wit to create a lively account of a fascinating era in our history. Lorence Bjorklund’s illustrations, rich in detail, portray the ghost towns in their glory and in their dusty decline. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Robert Silverberg , Lorence BjorklundPublisher: Ohio University Press Imprint: Ohio University Press Edition: New edition Dimensions: Width: 14.00cm , Height: 2.20cm , Length: 21.60cm Weight: 0.422kg ISBN: 9780821410820ISBN 10: 0821410822 Pages: 320 Publication Date: 01 January 1990 Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate , Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Out of print, replaced by POD We will order this item for you from a manufatured on demand supplier. Table of ContentsReviewsThere are ghost towns in the west and a lot of life in this book which depicts nineteenth century mining towns, often in the words of eyewitnesses. From 1849 on, California, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and the southwestern states welcomed thousands of ambitious men looking for pay dirt; several of their makeshift towns survive in various stages of arrested deterioration, some are mere skeletons or tree stumps, a few have been resurrected, others have blossomed into modern metropolises. When alive, these towns played host to many of the personalities and legends that salt American folklore: Greeley and Twain, Earp, Grandpa (the granddaddy of all gold mines), a forty-two round prize fight, the gunfight at the OK Corral - and the most amusing are not the more familiar mentioned here. Spiked with lively spirits - fast fun in the west. (Kirkus Reviews) Author InformationRobert Silverberg, a renowned science fiction author and recipient of multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, also writes books reflecting his special interest in myth, history, archaeology, and anthropology. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |