The Cowboy: An Unconventional History of Civilization on the Old-Time Cattle Range | 
 enlarge | Author: Philip Ashton Rollins
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
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Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 130877
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 402
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.9 x 1
ISBN: 0806129360
Dewey Decimal Number: 978
EAN: 9780806129365
Publication Date: March 1997
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| Customer Reviews:
The old west as it really was September 5, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is absolutely outstanding in its explanation of the cowboy period. It is the unvarnished truth about the twenty-odd year period we think of as the cowboy era. Yet while it is historically accurate regarding the nature and life of the cowboy it is also very readable and not at all like a dry history book. Anyone that wants to go beyond western movies and fiction to discover what being a cowboy was really all about should read this book.
Immensely informative and entertaining classic . . . October 8, 2004
31 out of 31 found this review helpful
I smiled and finally laughed out loud reading this wonderful book by Princeton-educated historian Philip Ashton Rollins (1869-1950), who grew up in the West and knew early cowboys firsthand. He organizes his encyclopedic knowledge of cowboys into 18 chapters covering such topics as cowboy character, what the cowboy wore, equipment and furnishings, diversions and recreations, the day's work, branding and round-up. At 383 pages in its 1936 edition, there's a lot of reading here for the Western enthusiast.
The subtitle of the book, "an unconventional history," alludes to the less than objective, tongue in cheek tone that Rollins often assumes. He obviously admires cowboys but also sees the latent humor and ironies in a hyper-male culture, where men on the open range bonded into a fierce fraternity of individuals. I laughed out loud at the point where he describes the boredom that led cowboys to memorize the labels on canned products (condensed milk, peaches) and then recite them in unison for amazed outsiders.
For readers fascinated by the minute details of the cowboy's daily life, his beliefs and customs, values and attitudes, habits, quirks, and prejudices, this book is a gem. You learn how cowboys wore their Stetsons differently in different regions of the West. Because Rollins is fascinated by language, you learn a great deal about cowboy lingo and how it also varied regionally. He also gets as close as he can to describing the particularly florid and inventive cursing of cowboys. You learn that cowboys wore vests but not denim. You learn the received method of one-handed cigarette rolling and lighting a match on the seat of one's pants. You learn how guns were worn and used. You learn plenty.
I'm happy to recommend this book on cowboy culture to anyone with an interest in the old west and the life of cowboys as it was actually lived. It was written and published in 1922, then revised in 1936, and is a classic that belongs on anyone's bookshelf of western literature.
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