The Wicked West: Boozers, Cruisers, Gamblers, and More

Sherry Monahan is at her best, as usual. She covers topics we all want to know about, but never ask, in this well-written book. From who was drinking what to how people really lived in the wicked west, this is one of the best. Velda Brotherton

An expert on the American western frontier and drawing from memoirs and eyewitness accounts, Sherry Monahan's The Wicked West: Boozers, Cruisers, Gamblers, And More provides the reader with a no-nonsense accounting of the "sinful" ways of the Wild West, in an era when drinking, smoking, gambling, drugs, and prostitution were the order of the day. Told chiefly through the memoirs and eyewitness accounts of the men and women who lived "the wicked life" in boisterous times, The Wicked West peels away legends to give an astonishingly accurate picture of the dangers, diseases, and forbidden pleasures of a time and place when anything could happen and usually did. An eye-opening, uproarious account.

The Wicked West by Sherry Monahan is a great collection of the wild and wooly pleasures of the Old West. She covers the saloons and gambling halls, the painted jezebels, the games of chance, the gamblers, the bar drinks, the temperance movements, and the eventual demise of the wild times. Of particular interest was a detailed description of how some of the archaic card games (faro and monte) were actually played. She also includes a good number of drink recipes from the bartenders of the day that were dispensed to those that stepped up to the bar. It's a good read and a delightful step back in time to when the West was young and untamed. A perfect selection for those fascinated with western history and a must for the collections of the hard-core history buffs. Review submitted by: G.R. Williamson Kerrville, TX