'The phenomenon of Dodge ...is both a dime novel and a document in our social history. Mr. Vestal astutely plays it soft and quiet, presenting the documented facts, leaving his reader free to make of them what he will. The result is a clear, almost eyewitness account of one of our country's most flamboyant moments' - "New York Times". 'Sifting through the fiction and fantasy, the legend and lore on this Sodom and Gomorrah of the West ...was extremely difficult. But [Vestal] succeeded admirably well and that, combined with extremely good writing, is why we refer to [this] work as a classic' - "Journal of the West". 'Stanley Vestal at his best' - "Westerners Brand Book".In 'Dodge City' a man might break all ten commandments in one night, die with his boots on, and be buried on Boot Hill in the morning. In the 1870s and 1880s the town was known as the wickedest in the American West. But gunmen, horse thieves, and desperadoes of every sort finally lost their bloody battle with vigilantes, troopers, railroad men, and heroic peace officers. 'Dodge City' was as remarkable for the lawmen - Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Bill Tilgham - as for the killers they finally tamed. Stanley Vestal's books about the West include "Jim Bridger: Mountain Man", "The Old Santa Fe Trail", and "The Missouri", all available in "Bison Books" editions. Introducer Jim Hoy is a professor of English at Emporia State University and author of "Cowboys and Kansas: Stories from the Tallgrass Prairie".