John Ringo, King of the Cowboys (Second Edition): His Life and Times from the Hoo Doo War to Tombstone

A.C. Greene Series

By: David Johnson

Narrated by: Barry Eads

Few names in the lore of Western gunmen are as recognizable. As a young man, Ringo became embroiled in the blood feud turbulence of post-Reconstruction Texas. The Mason County "Hoo Doo" War in Texas began as a war over range rights, but it swiftly deteriorated into blood vengeance and spiraled out of control as the body count rose. In this charnel house, Ringo gained a reputation as a dangerous gunfighter and man killer. The reputation he earned in Texas, further inflated by his willingness to shoot it out with Victorio's raiders during a deadly confrontation in New Mexico, preceded him to Tombstone in territorial Arizona.

Ringo became immersed in the area's partisan politics and factionalized violence. A champion of the largely Democratic ranchers, Ringo would become known as a leader of one of these elements, the Cowboys. He ran at bloody, tragic odds with the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday, finally being part of the posse that hounded these fugitives from Arizona. In the end, Ringo died mysteriously in the Arizona desert - his death welcomed by some, mourned by others, and wrongly claimed by a few.

©2008 David Johnson (P)2015 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Historian Dave Johnson sets aside the legends and myths to present here the most complete biography of Ringo to date.'" (Chuck Parsons, author of John B. Armstrong, Texas Ranger and Pioneer Rancher)

"A dogged researcher and rigorous historian, David Johnson sure-handedly brings to light new truths and lays to rest old falsehoods about this misunderstood gunman's life and death."(Scott Zesch, author of The Captured, winner of the TCU Texas Book Award)

I was hoping for more

The problem with reading anything about the characters from the Earp/Clanton (Cowboy) fued is most are either written by Earp suppoters or the cowboy supporters. It is hard to find anything that is neutral and objectively written. I was hoping this would be one of those, but it is not.
The author seems to be a good researcher and his information is well written. However, he is no investigator. He let's his bias form his opinion and does not examine his evidence from a neutral perspective. The author is very subjective in his opinions.
However, there is good information. When read with other subjective books to either the Earp side or the Clanton/Cowboy side, it can help guide one to truth which lies somewhere in the middle.

Interesting topic, narration ruined the audiobook

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes, if they were interested in the history of the West

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

It is a little date heavy. Very factual, of course it is a non-fiction, but so many dates seemed to detract from the book for others traveling with me and listening to it in the car.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Very robotic sounding. Until I looked at the website I was thinking it might have actually been a machine reading it. I turned it off after a little while because it was boring.

Was John Ringo, King of the Cowboys (Second Edition): His Life and Times from the Hoo Doo War to Tombstone worth the listening time?

No, it was boring.

Any additional comments?

I wish I would have purchased the book rather than the audiobook. The narrator was extremely robotic and made a point of "over pronouncing" the words.

The information in the book is interesting but the narrator made it so boring the other passengers in the car asked me to turn it off.

While I would recommend the book itself, I would definitely not recommend it as an audiobook due to the narrator. I've listened to a number of non-fiction audiobooks and this is the only one that I felt was not worth the money. If it was free I still wouldn't listen to it and I definitely wish I hadn't purchased it.

very anti everyone except Ringo.

the book focuses on making bad guys good and good guys had. the author jumps to conclusions without any evidence to support the claims. I have read and listened to a lot of books on the subject of the old west. and this one is probably the worst as far as trying to be even in his assumptions.

long on facts,short on entertainment

A good factual account of Ringo's life read in a rote manner of one simply quoting statistics,nothing really new here I would reluctantly recommend for those just looking for historical facts