John Wesley Hardin

the long version

Killing people was inherent to John Wesley Hardin. So he killed many men, perhaps as few as twenty or as many as fifty. Nobody knows the exact figure. Author Leon Metz strips the veneer of western romance from Hardin and delves into this unusual man's murky soul. He finds more here than just a gunfighter biography, but a dark, murderous tragedy. Hardin was both ruthless and righteous. His sense of character echoes loud and clear. He was intensely loyal to his friends and family and believed in spunk as well as the living God. In his own mind, he never shot a man who did not deserve it. It is sufficient to say that John Wesley Hardin was the most feared and fearless of all the Old West's killers -- Book jacket.