HISTORY:
** It was the beginning of the end for the James gang. In the past ten years Frank and Jesse James had gone from unknown ex-Confederate guerrillas to the most famous outlaws in the world. A string of daring robberies of banks, trains, and stagecoaches had brought them fame, admiration, hatred, and a surprisingly small amount of wealth. In 1876 they planned their most daring raid yet-to ride hundreds of miles from their home state of Missouri to rob the First National Bank at Northfield, Minnesota. This book will tell the story of one of the most daring bank jobs in American history. With most of the gang being former bushwhackers, they used many guerrilla tactics in the planning and execution of the raid, yet failed because of poor discipline and their own fame, which meant that every town in the Midwest had their guns loaded waiting to fight off bandits. **
** Quoted from the Osprey Publishing website.
THE BOOK:
Osprey Publications has released The Last Ride of the James–Younger Gang, Jesse James and the Northfield Raid 1876 as Number 35 in their Raid series. It is a soft cover book with 80 pages and is the standard Osprey Publishing size of 7 1/4 x 9 3/4 inches. Included with the text are black and white and color photographs, full color illustrations, a two-page color map, detailed captions and more. It has a 2012 copyright, a publication date of October 20, 2012, and the ISBN is 978-1-8490-8599-1.
THE CONTENTS:
Introduction
Origins
Initial Strategy
- Funding the operation
The Plan
The Raid
- Inside the bank
- Escape from Northfield
- Hunt for the gang
Analysis
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
THE TEXT:
Author Sean McLachlan has written an excellent history about the James-Younger gang with the main focus being on the gang’s last raid in the form of an attempted bank robbery of the First National Bank of Northfield in Northfield, Minnesota on September 7, 1876. As well as discussing the actions of the gang as a whole and the before, during and after actions of the attempted bank robbery in Northfield Minnesota and their escapes, captures and deaths, the author details the stories of the individuals and their early lives, their time while fighting in the American Civil War, and actions after the war and their having turned to a life of crime and forming the James-Younger gang and their crimes prior to the Northfield Raid. The author has provided an excellent narrative and has provided information from the outlaws themselves as well as several individuals that were witnesses such as bank employees, posse members, townspeople and others that were against the outlaws and their actions. The author does an excellent job of providing researched facts which helps to eliminate incorrect information that has been given over time due to misconceptions created by such things as period illustrations that were done by artists who had taken creative liberties about the event as well as individual accounts that were embellished and changed over time and more recently, television programs and movies. Along with his own words, Sean McLachlan has also provided quotes from various individuals and sources such as Cole Younger, the St. Paul Dispatch newspaper, journalist Joseph Have Hanson, Albert T. Dutcher (a visitor to Northfield during the robbery, Asle Oscar Sorbel, the farmer’s son who alerted authorities that the gang had been at their farm and others. The text in the book is nicely written and well detailed. As I read through the text, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. Grammar and spelling might not be an important factor to everyone however it is something that I take notice of and pass on my findings. As a reader that has a basic knowledge of the James-Younger gang and their exploits I learned that I didn’t know all of the details relating to their Northfield Raid of 1876 and I found myself to be well informed on the subject as well as all involved upon finishing the book. Anyone wanting to add an excellent reference and history book on James-Younger gang, and specifically the Northfield Raid of 1876 to their personal library will be pleased with this very informative and interesting book.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS:
A total of 38 black and white photographs and 9 color photographs are included in this volume. Several of the photographs are period photographs, or photographs of drawings and sketches from the period. The photographs range from wide angle photographs to close-up detailed photographs. Several of the photographs are profile studio portraits of the outlaws and other key individuals such as employees of the First National Bank of Northfield as well as one of the civilians that took part in the fighting against the outlaws. Also included are pictures of some of the weapons used by members of the gang, photographs of certain areas in Northfield such as the First National Bank of Northfield (internal and external photographs), the iron suspension bridge over the Cannon River and street views outside of the First National Bank. It should be noted that there are several post-mortem photographs of some of the individuals that were killed during the raid as well as photographs of surviving gang members, after their capture, and their wounds can be seen. The majority of the photographs are clear and easily viewable; however, a few have an out-of-focus appearance, and some appear to be too dark, and others appear too light. This is typical for the discussed period of history, and the quality of a few of the photographs is no fault of the author and does not take anything away from the book. Author Sean McLachlan stuck to the title of the book and chose subject specific photographs and did not include photographs that strayed from the main subject. The majority, if not all, of the photographs will prove to be excellent reference material due to the details they contain. The James-Younger Gang historian and enthusiast will benefit from the excellent photographs as will anyone that is interested in the attempted robbery of the First National Bank of Northfield during the gangs Northfield, Minnesota Raid of 1876.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS:
There are 3 color illustrations included in the volume that are very well done, nicely detailed and are of:
Plate A
Robbery of the Missouri Pacific Express
- A two-page full color action illustration of eight members of the James–Younger gang robbing the Missouri Pacific No. 4 Express at Rocky Cut two miles east of Otterville, Missouri on the night of July 7, 1876.
Plate B
Robbing the First National Bank
- A two-page full color action illustration showing the actions taken by the members of the James-Younger gang as they rob the bank as well as the actions taken by the townspeople in Northfield, Minnesota on September 7, 1876.
Plate C
Last Stand of the Younger Brothers
- A two-page full color action illustration showing Jim, Cole and Bob Younger and Charlie Pitts in a gun battle with posse members at Hanska Slough, Minnesota on September 21, 1876.
THE CAPTIONS:
The captions are well written and explain the accompanying photographs and illustrations in great detail, eliminating any doubt as to what is shown. The captions go into very specific detail as to the specific individuals shown, military rank, their official title/occupation, the type of weapons the individuals are armed with, clothing worn, dates and locations and other such pertinent information. Sean McLachlan’s captions are very helpful to the reader due to their detailed content as opposed to other captions that I have seen that are very brief and lacking in detail.
THE MAP:
There is one full-colored map by Bounford.com included in this volume. The map comes with a detailed key as well as a map/cartographic distance scale. The provided map is of:
- The initial route taken by the James-Younger Gang after having escaped from Northfield, Minnesota as well as the routes taken by the James brothers and the Youngers and Charlie Pitt after the James brothers left the other members of the gang and took a separate route.
** I noticed that for some reason the makers of the map made gaps in the lettering of some of the locations shown. Some of these errors are as follows: Minneso ta, Dakot a Territo ry, Io wa, Lake Cry stal, Wa ter ville, and others.
CONCLUSION:
As with the other Osprey Publishing titles I was impressed with this book. This is a very nice reference book that contains a well written informative text, many subject specific photographs and illustrations, well detailed captions and more, all detailing the James–Younger Gang, their lives and actions prior to, during, and after the Northfield Raid in Northfield, Minnesota in 1876 As with the other Osprey Publishing titles, I have no hesitation recommending this book to others as it will be a welcome addition to one’s personal reference library.
Osprey Publishing also offers The Last Ride of the James–Younger Gang, Jesse James and the Northfield Raid 1876 as:
Ebook (Epub & Mobi) ISBN: 978-1-7820-0308-3
and
Ebook (PDF) ISBN: 978-1-8490-8600-4
Osprey Publishing’s, The Last Ride of the James–Younger Gang, Jesse James and the Northfield Raid 1876 is also available as a Kindle version through Amazon.
PRICE:
UK £15.99 / US $21.00 / CAN $30.00
This book was provided to me by Osprey Publishing. Please mention that you saw the book reviewed here on the KitMaker Network when making your purchase. Thank you.
