Description

A name well known to most Americans, Jesse James was a veteran of the Civil War, a bankrobber, and a very romanticized popular hero. Although James has been the subject of countless biographies and historical novels, as well as the theater and the movies, new light can still be shed on his life.

In The Many Faces of Jesse James, author Phillip W. Steele, with George Warfel, presents a fascinating study of James' life using his many portraits as a frame of reference. Because a picture has long been known to reveal more than a story can, Steele takes each documented photograph of James and examines it closely, showing how the dress, demeanor, and physical well-being of James relate to what scholars believe him to have been doing at the time.

The result of Steele's work is to transform a figure largely legend into a more real man. And Steele does not stop there. Since the possibility of more actual portraits and photographs of James exists, Steele explains the process George Warfel has devised to identify Jesse James accurately, even including a group of "false photos" of James to illustrate his point.

Fans of James-Younger gang lore will appreciate this fresh, yet practical approach to understanding this enigmatic historical figure. Readers for whom Jesse James is only a name will no doubt become more knowledgeable about the complex circumstances that led the outlaw to lead the life he did.