The Life and Legacy of Annie Oakley is an interpretive biography of Annie Oakley. Overcoming poverty, prejudice, physical setbacks and her own shyness, Oakley became a star in Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West show. Both in the United States and abroad, her shooting and riding skills drew standing-room-only crowds. And there she burned into the public mind a dual vision of Annie Oakley: as a lady and as the archetypal western woman - daring, beautiful and skilled. In the first chapter, Glenda Riley recounts Oakley's childhood, her development as a shooter, and her marriage to Frank Butler. Subsequent chapters present Oakley's life - as entertainer, sport shooter, lady, and western woman. Riley revives Oakely's reputation as a hunter and as a match and exhibition shooter. Although many women were shooters and arena performers in Oakley's time, she endures because of her consummate skill and professionalism. Even though Oakley strove to be a Victorian lady at all times and maintained that she was not a feminist, her actions helped the movement along its way. Riley also analyses Oakley's place in the fin de siecle romance with the American West. Idealised at home and abroad, Oakley left a lasting legacy - the image of the strong, aggressive western woman. In the final chapter, Riley assesses changes in the interpretation of Oakley's image since her death in 1926.