Jay Warren, Harvard, 1876, discovers that his father, Tecumseh, has left him some cash and a rail ticket to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Also a note that says the West is a good place to make something of himself. Tecumseh is a self-made shipping magnate, and he wants his son to make his own way in the world. So the son heads west, appalled at what life has dealt him, and soon is making all the wrong choices, looking for easy money, a quick killing, instead of knuckling down into a useful occupation. Jay gets himself into bad company, makes reckless moves, and eventually faces a life or death decision. Does Jay reach manhood at last, out in the great West?

From Publishers Weekly Again depicting characters with frailties as well as heroic qualities, the prolific Wheeler's 25th novel (after Aftershocks) is a sprightly romp of revisionist western history. In 1919, legendary gunfighter Bat Masterson is a 64-year-old New York City sportswriter who suddenly becomes worried about the inglorious and mostly false reputation he has endured for decades. Certainly, he had hunted buffalo and fought Indians at the Battle of Adobe Walls; he'd been a gambler and a lawman. But everyone still believes he's an incorrigible womanizer who has run cathouses and gunned down dozens of men. He does admit to being quite the ladies' man, but bristles at the dime-novel exaggerations that depict him swaggering with 26 notches in his pistols and carrying the heads of seven outlaws around in a sack. Accompanied by his common-law wife, Emma, Bat decides to return to Dodge City, Tombstone and Denver to clear his name and to establish that he killed only one man, who richly deserved it, and that he is really a nice fellow if folks would just get to know him. This journey is a hoot as the old lawman finds that the public wants the legend, not the truth. When Bat visits his old friend Wyatt Earp in L.A., he meets actor William S. Hart and learns about why western films are so popular in Hollywood. Bat reminisces with Emma and a few old saddle pals, but finally gives up his quest when he realizes that folks want mythic, infamous heroes, and "you may as well sit back and enjoy the ride because there's no way to get off the train." This is classic Wheeler, a solid story about real people told with wit, compassion and a bit of whimsy. Author tour. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This research examines the Special Forces recruiting methodologies for the twenty-first century. The analysis highlights the origins of the U.S. Army Special Forces from 1952 to the establishment of the Special Forces as a separate combat arms branch of the Army on 9 April 1987. An overview of the force development process conducted at echelons above the United States Army Recruiting Command was presented in order to appreciate the process of setting and adjusting the Special Forces recruiting mission. In greater detail, historical trends, as documented from secondary research, provides the framework of the analysis by examining what occurred in the past in order to preview the relevant effectiveness of recruiting methodologies in practice today. The analysis articulates the importance of mutually supporting relationships, established as early as 1990 and continue to prosper today, between numerous civilian and military agencies involved in the accession of the future Special Forces force structure. The complex realities of recruiting Special Forces, to include the market, internal and external influences that impact the ability to succeed in the conduct of the phenomenon, are addressed as well. Having researched the phenomenon of recruiting and presented the facts and findings that resulted from critical analysis, the recommendations and conclusions are based on secondary and primary research, study, analysis, and logical presentation of the data in order to serve as the vehicle for future research of the phenomenon.

The recent rediscovery of Rebel Private: Front and Rear, effectively lost for decades, marks an authentic publishing event in the literature of the Civil War. A rare insight into the conflict from the point of view of a Confederate army enlisted man, this compelling memoir has been hailed by historians as a classic and indispensible key to understanding the Southern perspective. Margaret Mitchell even described it as her single most valuable source of research for Gone With the Wind.This stunning document is the work of a common foot soldier blessed with extraordinary perception and articulateness. After joining the famed Texas Brigade under Stonewall Jackson. Private William A. Fletcher saw action at Second Manassas, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Channcellorsville, and Chickamauga. He was wounded several times and escaped from a moving Union prison train before the South's surrender. In 1907, he published this powerfully evocative account of his exploits, a volume of frank, detailed recollections that spares none of the horror, courage, or absurdity of war. But a fire destroyed all but a few copies before they could be distributed. One copy, however, did make its way to the Library of Congress, where it was eventually discovered. Today, this colorful work has become the voice of the Civil War front-line grunt, speaking to the modern reader with the intensity of personal experience and a vividness of detail that gives it a riveting you-are-there quality.