Murder in Tombstone: The Forgotten Trial of Wyatt Earp

Actually, we haven’t forgotten about this trial, but okay, maybe some people don’t know the aftermath of the gunfight at that most famous of corrals.

After a good review of the individuals and incidents leading up to the violence, Lubert leads us through the legal maze that followed when Wyatt and friends were charged with murder. The entire trial is told here in narrative form rather than as a verbatim transcript of the court records as others have often done. The Hollywood term “gunslinger” is overused throughout the book, but the Tombstone trial itself, Wyatt Earp’s subsequent vendetta ride and the author’s questions and conclusions make for fascinating reading.