Kindle
$24.22
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$25.50
$25.50 with 27 percent savings
List Price: $34.95

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Thursday, May 16 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Wednesday, May 15. Order within 17 hrs 41 mins
In Stock
$$25.50 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$25.50
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
30-day easy returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Billy the Kid: El Bandido Simpático Hardcover – June 27, 2022

by James B. Mills (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 66 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$25.50","priceAmount":25.50,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"25","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"50","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"kZTLMe%2BtjEuaWZJgv0VtAE0HMVPUjLP%2BKZst5B8gBkvUDlS8DsmTEk%2B12W5Mgrk3QhXWqVjRb56HfeI0h4js4TxZjtMEUwLoPrK0q%2FXQ5KuJKzsSIpc6hdO2geD7jkdNPZkrSuBmyuLAqaaF%2BqKDIQ%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Will Rogers Gold Medallion Award in Western Nonfiction, 2023
New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards Winner, 2023
Best First Book selected by True West Magazine in annual “Best of the West” feature, 2022

In the annals of American western history, few people have left behind such lasting and far-reaching fame as Billy the Kid. Some have suggested that his legend began with his death at the end of Pat Garrett’s revolver on the night of July 14, 1881, in Fort Sumner. Others believe that the legend began with his unforgettable jailbreak in Lincoln, New Mexico, several months prior on April 28, 1881. Others still insist his legend began with the publication in 1926 of Walter Noble Burns’s book, The Saga of Billy the Kid.

James B. Mills has left no stone unturned in his twenty-year quest to tell the complete story of Billy the Kid. He explores the Kid’s disputable origins, his family’s migration from New York into the Southwest, and how he became an orphan, as well as his involvement in the Lincoln County War, his outlaw exploits, and his dealings with Governor Lew Wallace. Mills illuminates the Kid’s relationships with his enemies, lovers, and numerous friends to contextualize the man’s character beyond his death and legacy. Most importantly, Mills is the first historian to fully detail the Kid’s relations with New Mexicans of Spanish descent.    

So, the question remains, who really was the person the world knows as Billy the Kid? Was he more than a young reprobate committed to a life of crime, who relished becoming the famous outlaw and cold-blooded, self-absorbed “sociopath” or “thug” that some still prefer him—need him—to be? Or was he in fact the generally good-hearted, generous, courteous, young vigilante that so many remembered with considerable fondness, who ultimately preferred the company of the more peaceable Hispanic population than his own Anglo people? In this groundbreaking biography, Mills takes the reader closer to the flesh-and-blood human being named Henry McCarty, alias William H. Bonney, than ever before.

Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    736 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    University of North Texas Press
  4. Publication date
    June 27, 2022
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 2 x 9.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1574418785
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1574418781
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now

Frequently bought together

Billy the Kid: El Bandido Simpático
$25.50
Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Earth Is All That Lasts: Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and the Last Stand of the Great Sioux Nation
$24.98
Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Widowed Ones: Beyond the Battle of the Little Bighorn
$21.16
Get it as soon as Friday, May 17
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by bookmasters444 and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This book is going to knock the socks off everyone who thinks they know who Billy really was.”—Bob Boze Bell, author of The Illustrated Life and Times of Billy the Kid

“Mills has done a superb job, in thorough research, in inclusive writing, to bring forth another readable, historically sound biography. He explores the Hispanic side of the story, a side not often emphasized. A winner!”—Robert M. Utley, author of Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life

“Billy the Kid is exhaustively researched, as thorough as any book on Billy the Kid, invitingly written, and a clear contribution to the field. Mills’s huge book moves well beyond previous studies. He deals more extensively with Hispanics and their close relationships with Billy, and he dives deeper into census, interview, and other obscure sources. Mills also provides more information than most other previous biographers and historians on those who sided with and opposed the Kid.”—Richard W. Etulain, author of Thunder in the West: The Life and Legends of Billy the Kid and Billy the Kid: A Reader's Guide
 
“James B. Mills has produced a fast-paced, well-documented history of one of the West's most enduring enigmas. It is highly enjoyable for lay readers and historians alike.”—David Johnson, author of John Ringo, King of the Cowboys and The Mason County “Hoo Doo” War, 1874–1902

 



"[This] is a biogra­phy that places the real boy in the context of both his mythology, and his real, troubled life from his birth in an Irish neighborhood of Manhattan to his violent death in the Anglo-Hispano com­munity of Fort Sumner. . . .  Without a doubt, Mills' Billy the Kid will be the first resource scholars and researchers will reach for when asking questions about McCarty, law and order in the New Mexico Territory and the Lincoln County War."--True West

"James B. Mills's first published biography raises the bar high for all scholars of the New Mexico outlaw. The young historian's detailed research on Henry McCarty, aka William H. Bonney, provides readers with a fresh perspective on the Kid's amiable and loving relationship with the Hispano community of New Mexico."--Western Writers of America ROUNDUP Magazine

"It is most fascinating to read about the many theories, beliefs, and facts about virtually all aspects of the Kid's life, career, and apotheosis. . . . One may be tempted to state that with this work James B. Mills has provided history with a definitive work on Billy the Kid."--Wild West History Association Journal

"Bilito ("Little Billy") spoke Spanish fluently and endeared himself to much of the Hispano populace of Lincoln County and beyond. . . . Mills makes a case that Billy remained in his stamping grounds--after the Lincoln County War made him a wanted man, after being hunted down by Pat Garrett, and even after his death sentence and deadly escape from the Lincoln County Courthouse--out of reluctance to leave his Hispano friends."--Wild West

"James B. Mills' work falls into the category of a fresh narrative with some fresh perspectives. . . . What we have is an excellent retelling of the story of the Lincoln County War, which reminds us that not only was the main street of Lincoln the most dangerous street in America at one time, but the rest of the territory wasn't exactly quiet either."--Tally Sheet, English Westerners Society

"Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to really nail a narrative. Last year, Australian writer James B. Mills's well researched and rollicking Billy the Kid: El Bandido Simpático won a gold Will Rogers Medallion Award in western nonfiction."--New Mexico Magazine

About the Author

JAMES B. MILLS was born in 1983 and resides in Australia. He has studied the American frontier and numerous other areas of history since childhood. He has published numerous articles for True West and Wild West magazines. He enjoys living a quiet life with his cat Bernard and dog Dennis.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of North Texas Press (June 27, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 736 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1574418785
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1574418781
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.35 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 2 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 66 ratings

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
66 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Culz Paranormal
5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to know Billy then read this book
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2023
Verified Purchase
When you see a ton of praise on a product, you may be a tad nervous. Will it live up to expectations? Well good news, any positive praise for James B. Mills "El Bandido Simpatico" is well deserved. James has crafted the clearest look into the life of famed "outlaw" William H. Bonney (Henry McCarty, Billy the Kid). Wiped away are misconceptions and pure fiction often recycled in many books, and in its place is the true person who lived, fought, and ultimately died in New Mexico in 1881. The book is well written, thoroughly researched and paced extraordinarily well. Don't be scared of the length, the book reads so well that by the end of it you will want more, unfortunately Billy only lived till 21.

10/10 - while I love Billy the Kid - the Endless Ride, this book adds so much more into the titular subject that I would be crazy to put it anywhere but #1, as best book on Billy the Kid.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
BNR
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book.
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2024
Verified Purchase
I have several about Billy the Kid and this is by far the best one yet. Very well written.
Helpful
 Report
G. R. R.
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book about the Kid to date!
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2022
Verified Purchase
I've been a Kid fanatic for decades and have read every book about him I could get my hands on. Mills' book contained the most information of any others I've read, doing a great job of filling in blanks as to his whereabouts and actions that have escaped other authors. The book surprised me several times by revealing new information and dispelling information that had been, up to now, generally accepted as factual. The book additionally contains a wealth of photos showing important people and locations in the Kid's life. Lastly, the illustration of Lincoln County's main street, which includes the sites of the 5 day Lincoln County War and the Kid's jail escape, is invaluable in helping the reader follow and understand the text about the events. The only downside to the book involves the editing: there are instances of repeated or missing words as well as misspellings here and there; these are minor annoyances, however, and can easily be corrected in a future edition. I wholeheartedly recommend Mr. Mills' book to anyone interested in Billy the Kid, and this includes those who, like me, have read extensively about his life.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
James Townsend
5.0 out of 5 stars A Well-Written, Comprehensive Life of Billy the Kid
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2022
Verified Purchase
It was extremely difficult to put this book down during the process of reading it. Bandido Simpático is so well-written and well-constructed that it is hands-down the most engaging and enjoyable biography I’ve read. It’s a page-turner (a rare find in the history section of a bookstore).

For anyone with a newly sparked interest in William H. Bonney, looking to learn about the real Billy the Kid, this is the book I will recommend.

Bandido Simpático covers all aspects of the Kid’s life and character with equal depth. This is a balanced and comprehensive study of Billy the Kid.

Some chapters, like “Bilito” and “A Kid For All Time” were almost stand-alone chapters that were so pointed and well-written that they were worth the cost of the whole book.

This was unquestionably one of the most enjoyable non-fiction books I’ve ever read.
8 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Jeff M. Schwehn
4.0 out of 5 stars A Big Book About Billy
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2022
Verified Purchase
A fulsome, competently written, middling edited, account of the life and times of Billy the Kid with voluminous end notes (one annotation amounts to its own 1000-word essay) and a 12-page bibliography. This tome is stuffed with the known facts of Billy’s life as well as the author’s educated guesses, conjectures, suppositions, and assertions that attempt to bridge the many unknown contours and content of Billy’s adolescent lifespan.

The book expands on the view of Billy’s relationship with and to the Hispanic natives of southern, frontier New Mexico begun by Miguel Antonio Otero, Jr. in his 1930’s volume, “The Real Billy the Kid”. No doubt Billy the Kid with his kindly, sunny disposition and fluent Spanish was very popular with many Hispanic New Mexicans; on the other hand, not a few were intrinsically and/or extrinsically ill-disposed toward young Billy and eagerly sought an early end to his life before, during, and after the Lincoln County War.

There are but few nuggets of new information about Billy’s life in this almost 600-page opus, but that’s not surprising given much of what we know about the “Kid” comes from the nearly 50-year-old recollections of Billy’s now long-deceased acquaintances, comrades, and enemies. This commendable work will be valued as one of the few wide-ranging compendiums of certainties and stories about the frontier orphan who styled himself, William H. Bonney.

Mr. Mills concludes his book by agreeing with others that Billy be considered principally a “survivor” on America’s 19th century, raw, Southwestern frontier. This places the author somewhere to the middle of the more popular views of Mr. Bonney as either “Black Bart” or “Robin Hood”. Based on the extant information available about Billy, Mill’s depiction of the “Kid’s” life is as interesting to consider as any other. After all, those of us invested in the Billy-the-Kid story avidly stare into the ambiguous, sketchy, Rorschach-like historical record of Billy’s life and see what we need to see.

Not for the casual reader or faint of interest.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
randyray1212
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2024
Verified Purchase
Well written and extensively researched. You definitely get your money’s worth with this book!
Helpful
 Report
Gus in New Mexico
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly Comprehensive
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2023
Verified Purchase
As someone who has read a lot of books on the Kid, I must say that this one is the most comprehensive that I have ever seen! I appreciate that the author quotes from nearly ever source available, particularly in relation to old timers who actually knew the Kid. Did some of those old timers lie? Undoubtedly, but the author respects the reader enough to let them decide what is likely the truth and what might be a lie or "tall tale" rather than excluding certain comments altogether. If I were to set out to write the ultimate history on the Kid, this is how I would've done it!
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

beau
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Reviewed in Canada on September 12, 2023
Verified Purchase
If you want a detailed, true, layout of the kid this is it. One thing this book does that so many dont do is paint the truth about this young man’s personality. The good and the bad. What an amazing young man. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the kid.
Report
Nag J
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 1, 2023
Verified Purchase
This is probably one of the best "Billy The Kid" books ever written, because it gives a lot of detail about the Billy the person himself, and also his association with the local Hispanic population as well.
Many other books about Billy eulogise a lot about him, because of his reputation and all the mythology that goes along with that!
This book avoids all the fiction and hype, and is a joy to read.
Report
ken courtenay
4.0 out of 5 stars Well Written
Reviewed in Canada on November 23, 2022
Verified Purchase
A bit of new material , extensively researched and well organized/written. Excellent notes, is now the main source for Billy the Kid history.
Report
Mike Martin
5.0 out of 5 stars An outlaw delight
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 8, 2023
Verified Purchase
A superb piece of work... diligently researched, highly detailed and intelligently crafted.
Written in a highly readable and entertaining style too.
Mills has an admirable and tangible approach to history.
Passion and credibility oozes from every page.
I am a serious Wild West scholar and writer myself and this magnificent tome, amongst hundreds, is one of the very best.
Customer image
Mike Martin
5.0 out of 5 stars An outlaw delight
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 8, 2023
A superb piece of work... diligently researched, highly detailed and intelligently crafted.
Written in a highly readable and entertaining style too.
Mills has an admirable and tangible approach to history.
Passion and credibility oozes from every page.
I am a serious Wild West scholar and writer myself and this magnificent tome, amongst hundreds, is one of the very best.
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image
Report
Mr. J. Fritz
3.0 out of 5 stars Good for Beginners on Billy The Kid
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2023
Verified Purchase
I study for Years Billy Bonneys short Life and run a FB Group
"Billy the Kid or El Chavitos Pals"
The Book is good researched but not much new for my Liking
had more aspected..not cheap but worth it since You need 3
Books of BTK to get all INFO
One person found this helpful
 Report