Kindle
$9.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$12.53
Paperback
$13.70
Buy new:
-52% $12.53
FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon
Sold by: markable
$12.53 with 52 percent savings
List Price: $25.95

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 Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 22 hrs 4 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$12.53 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$12.53
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon
Ships from
Amazon
Sold by
markable
Sold by
markable
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
$7.66
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
Shipped fast and reliably through the Amazon Prime program! Book may contain some writing, highlighting, and or cover damage. Shipped fast and reliably through the Amazon Prime program! Book may contain some writing, highlighting, and or cover damage. See less
FREE delivery May 20 - 22 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Friday, May 17
In Stock
$$12.53 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$12.53
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
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

Follow the author

Michael Wallis
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride Hardcover – March 17, 2007

by Michael Wallis (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 294 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$12.53","priceAmount":12.53,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"12","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"53","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"g0gTD71d2F%2B0D%2BfRuAM5QLu15ZB0kiuLF1XkcEcLGmmqloLhNzWV%2Bwlg5I8KaqpKYUPdOum0g%2BHvOKx0jzG0tOBXZ2O5scaLL5URXADeTPe1NDZYTt%2F%2BAMQ18Dp67xPGXT5GyiznllDvPAnOU1ytuyVWPC4EPI1KEFOnCWT3LSSHOY1trxUXQEIDU%2FKcMPq3","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$7.66","priceAmount":7.66,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"66","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"g0gTD71d2F%2B0D%2BfRuAM5QLu15ZB0kiuLgYdLRWWMSjs7fBjuasmzY49qZxbl9KL5z%2BusmpZ09jtfSD2TtsA1lwdtptorcJnjd1gUDwZexLEXBtHDKfLsMxm8%2BEIkhtf%2BZWl%2BF7RSA%2FTPP58qgJqLLDVvrk4Zx0qhvj3tmZfuJpEwj6DTIDv4qJl9LAWXMLfZ","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

From the best-selling author of Route 66 comes this long-awaited biography of one of America’s most legendary folk heroes.

Award-winning historian Michael Wallis has spent several years re-creating the rich, anecdotal saga of Billy the Kid (1859–1881), a deeply mythologized young man who became a legend in his own time and yet remains an enigma to this day. With the Gilded Age in full swing and the Industrial Revolution reshaping the American landscape, “the Kid,” who was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the New Mexico Territory at the age of twenty-one, became a new breed of celebrity outlaw. He arose amid the mystery and myth of the swiftly vanishing frontier and, sensationalized beyond recognition by the tabloids and dime-store romances of the day, emerged as one of the most enduring icons of the American West―not to mention one of Hollywood’s most misrepresented characters. This new biography, filled with dozens of rare images and period photographs, separates myth from reality and presents an unforgettable portrait of this brief and violent life.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    March 17, 2007
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1.3 x 9.6 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0393060683
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0393060683
  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: The Endless Ride
$12.53
Get it as soon as Friday, May 17
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by markable and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
+
Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life
$19.95
Get it as soon as Friday, May 17
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid
$3.98
Get it as soon as Friday, May 17
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
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

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The boy who would become Billy the Kid (1859–1881) was born Henry McCarty, perhaps in the Irish immigrant wards of New York City. Not much is known about his parents, and it's difficult to trace his whereabouts until his family turned up in Silver City, Colo., in the early 1870s. Both the facts and the legend pick up in 1877, when Henry—already known to some under the alias Kid—shot a man who was bullying him and began a life on the run. Wallis's reconstruction of the Kid's exploits is engrossing. But even more, Wallis (Route 66) shows Billy the Kid as a product of his era, one of profound social dislocation. Billy the Kid was, indeed, only the most legendary of a generation of "desperate men" who knew how to handle a gun. At the same time, a new kind of sensationalist journalism was being created, and reporters were more than happy to contribute to the creation of a myth. Wallis, the host of PBS's new American Roads, writes clean prose, occasionally enlivened by a particularly lovely turn of phrase ("the liquid rustle of cottonwood leaves"). Over the decades, countless books have been written about the infamous outlaw, and this is surely one of the best. 60 illus. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Michael Wallis, the best-selling author of Route 66 and Billy the Kid, has published eighteen books and won numerous honors and awards. He is a popular public speaker and a highly acclaimed voice actor. He lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition (March 17, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393060683
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393060683
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.46 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.3 x 9.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 294 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Michael Wallis

Michael Wallis

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

It has been said, "reading a Michael Wallis book is like dancing to a romantic ballad. He offers his hand and gently guides you across the floor, swaying to the song of the American West."

A best-selling author and award-winning reporter, Michael is a historian and biographer of the American West who also has gained international notoriety as a speaker and voice talent. In 2006 Michael’s distinctive voice was heard in Cars, an animated feature film from Pixar Studios, also featuring Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Owen Wilson, Michael Keaton, and George Carlin. Michael is also featured in Cars 2, a sequel to the original motion picture released in 2011.

A storyteller who likes nothing better than transporting audiences across time and space, Michael has published seventeen books, including Route 66: The Mother Road, the book credited with sparking the resurgence of interest in the highway. In 2011, Michael’s latest works were published — David Crockett: The Lion of the West, and The Wild West 365.

Other Wallis books include The Real Wild West: The 101 Ranch and the Creation of the American West; Mankiller: A Chief and Her People; Way Down Yonder In The Indian Nation; and Pretty Boy: The Life and Times of Charles Arthur Floyd. His work has been published in hundreds of national and international magazines and newspapers, including Time, Life, People, Smithsonian, The New Yorker, and The New York Times.

Michael has been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize and was also a nominee for the National Book Award. He has won many other prestigious honors, such as the Will Rogers Spirit Award, the Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall & Western Heritage Museum, the Oklahoma Book Award from the Oklahoma Center for the Book, and the Best Western Non-fiction Award from the Western Writers of America.

For further information about Michael Wallis, visit http://www.michaelwallis.com.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
294 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Wanted to read and learn more about Billy the Kid.
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2024
Verified Purchase
Just started to read. So far a very good read. Can't wait to get to learn about Billy the Kid.
Helpful
 Report
Joe
4.0 out of 5 stars Billy Bonney
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2013
Verified Purchase
Being a William Bonney fan. I have been interested in the life and times of "Billy the Kid" since I first saw Emilio Estevez portray the famous outlaw in the movie "Young Guns". As I decided to delve deeper into the real history of him , I discovered that he was more interesting than I could of imagined. First off, he was a kid. By himself by fifteen. Now imagine being free to roam the old west at such an early age. By all written accounts he looked and acted that of a mere boy. His mother, a major influence until her death, reminded me of my mother. Tough, loving, and hardworking. She shaped him. Billy had these qualities. He was not a psychosomatic that some books portray. Everyone loved this kid. He was a victim of circumstance. And that is what this book does well. It sets up a great environment. A environment that affected Billy's life until the day he died. In his shoes, I found myself making the same decisions.
Helpful
 Report
Randy Davis
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2021
Verified Purchase
I haven't read a hole lot on the life of Billy the kid, surprisingly since I'm a huge history buff. I've read so many books on the old West but nothing really intrigued me about Billy the kid. I just finished a book and was looking to sample one. The cover caught my eye, from the moment i started to read i. ! couldn't put it down. Well written and left me feeling sorry for the kid and looking for other books written about him.
Helpful
 Report
R. Crippen
3.0 out of 5 stars Delinquent
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2008
Verified Purchase
Michael Wallis offers a book - "Billy the Kid" - to prove not much is known about Billy the Kid. The Kid (name not certain, Wallis says) was dead before he was 22. There usually is little enough to say even about the greatest in our histories from the years of childhood and adolescence. There is not much factual to say about The Kid. Anyway, no one was watching him closely or chronicling his deeds.

What is known is not sensational. Even The Kid's murders do not rival the records laid out by Charlie Starkweather or Charles Manson.

Wallis introduces a score or more of men (mostly) who associated with The Kid, or knew of him. His account becomes a maze of names for one-dimensional characters.

Reviewers agree Wallis' account probably is the most factual in print.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
William Kelly
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, better add it to your library.
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2020
Verified Purchase
This book is fantastic. It paints a beautiful historical picture of the era, complete with the little nuances of Billy the Kid and the shenanigans of the New Mexico territory, corruption like today. So very little is known about the first 18 years of the Kids life, but the author separates truth from fiction in a unbiased manner. I was left with a very favorable impression of William H Bonney (his true name was Henry McCarthy). He never knew his Dad, he was orphaned in a tough land at age 15 when his mother died of TB, he seemed to struggle just to survive. I think the Kid would gave made a great friend, he was smart, was an expert horseman and cowboy, he loved the Mexicain culture, he could dance and sing and he liked girls. And oh yeah, he was ambidextrous, expert with the Winchester 1873 or a pistol in either hand. Your heart will ache for the Kid after you read this story. God love ya.
8 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Jacques LeStrappe
4.0 out of 5 stars which I highly recommend to anyone interested in stories from the era of ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2015
Verified Purchase
A fascinating story. Only a few small apocryphal details here and there. Such as the story told by the person who describes Billy The Kid's proficiency with a revolver. According to that tale, someone would throw a tin can into the air. Billy would draw his revolver, spin it around his finger before shooting, and then hit the tin can twice before it hit the ground. Michael Wallis should have realized - and mentioned - that no one can do that with a revolver, and that this anecdote is another of the many that have been invented about Billy the Kid. Otherwise, this biography seems to adhere strictly to the facts and is an engrossing and entertaining book, which I highly recommend to anyone interested in stories from the era of the Wild West.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Lew Craig
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative read.
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2008
Verified Purchase
This is a very good book by Michael Wallis. Even though I love western history, I never thought I would read a book about the Kid, but an NPR interview with Mr. Wallis changed my mind. The book is well researched and entertaining. It is very enlightening and does not play on violence, but deals with the person and world of Billy the Kid in as much as it is possible to know him.

Some reviewers have complained about the fact that book gets off subject and wanders at times. Mr. Wallis writes biographies from a social history point of view. He admittedly does get off the subject to give the reader a broader view of the environment an individual was living through. I feel this is a strength of the book.

Highly recommended.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Terry Nelson
5.0 out of 5 stars The real Kid
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2010
Verified Purchase
The book separates myth from what few facts are known about Billy the Kid. A more clear picture of who he was; a young man who was a good singer, popular with young ladies because of his dancing skills, charming and charismatic, with a teens propensity to get into trouble. He did not kill as many men as dime novelists would have have us believe, but still could be brutal as his killings during his famous jail escape indicate. Well researched and written, Wallis presents an enjoyable read that makes you want to learn more about Billy the Kid. But as the author states, as have many before him, the Kid remains elusive to researchers, but Wallis may have come as close as we can get.
10 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Bernard MacKinnon
3.0 out of 5 stars The Same Story
Reviewed in Canada on January 9, 2018
Verified Purchase
Michael Wallis joins the wide and varied range of writers in tackling the enigma that is William Bonney. They all basically tell the same story, but Wallis will point out what is solid evidence and what isn't. There's a lot that isnt. I find Wallis doesn't really bring you into the action or get you to feel what Billy the Kid stands for, as other writers have. And I became annoyed as his digressions, and there were many, like the history of the Tumbleweed that went on for pages. I think that's called "fill".
Report
Irmgard Seese
5.0 out of 5 stars Danke gut
Reviewed in Germany on June 6, 2019
Verified Purchase
Prima
Report
BelfastClient
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 9, 2015
Verified Purchase
Loved this book. Good on the human history of this outlaw story. Some gaps in the family background - inevitable since so little known about The Kid before he began to feature in the popular culture of the day. But a really enjoyable read which provided insights not just into the story of this legend of the West but also into the world and times into which he was born. Recommended.
Report
Marj
4.0 out of 5 stars worth reading
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 20, 2016
Verified Purchase
The trouble with trying to get to the truth about Billy Bonny is that it is very scarce and obscured in a tangle of sensationalism. All books after Robert Utley rely heavily on his research and they tend to quote eachother. Its an intersting read, and conjures an interesting image of what the conditions wer like in the old wild west. Wild I would say was a very mild term of the type of environment that existed at that time. worth reading.
Report
Jay
5.0 out of 5 stars Very well researched.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 2, 2014
Verified Purchase
The author has done a great job of separating the truth from the fiction in this history of William Bonney. After reading numerous books on the man and the events In Lincoln County this was a really good summary of those events - probably if you don't want to delve deeper, then this book is all you need for an accurate account of the life and times of this famous outlaw.
One person found this helpful
 Report