THE TRAIN ROBBERY ERA: AN ENCYCL

A detailed referenced source book on train robberies and related events. Persons, places, and events receive extensive description, accompanied by vintage photos of trains, robbers, and involved individuals, as well as such disverse topics as the history of express companies, the notorious $20 million Gold Train, and stories of buried loot.

Patterson has gathered an exhaustive amount of information on train robbers and robberies in encyclopedic format. The majority of the entries are for locations of robberies, such as Verdi, Nevada, and Utica, New York, or robbers such as the James-Younger gang and Henri Stewart (the only Harvard Medical School graduate among the robbers), but there are also entries for detectives and other individuals, and for such diverse topics as the Gold Train, armored express cars, and buried loot. While many of the entries include the sources on which the entry was based, the bibliography does not go beyond restating these sources. Given Patterson's very readable and enticing writing style, a bibliographic essay on further reading would have been useful. While cross references to related articles are plentiful, some topics such as "Wells, Fargo and Company" and "Wild Bunch" are included only in other entries with no reference from the term. Still, this is a useful source for specialized collections on the West and on railroads; other libraries may find Patterson's straightforward account of the era, Train Robbery ( LJ 9/1/81), more useful.
- Stephen H. Peters, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.