Outgunned!: true stories of citizens who stood up to outlaws-won

Outgunned! is a thoroughly enjoyable and easy read that chronicles the civilian use of firearms to thwart crimes during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In addition to a few of the more common and well-known tales such as the James gang raid on Northfield Minnesota and the Dalton gang fiasco at Coffeyville, some little known robberies are recounted, such as one about George Birdwell. Birdwell was accomplice of Pretty Boy Floyd who didn't survive an encounter with armed citizens. Another interesting story is that of Anthony Chebatoris, who has the distinction of being the last man to be executed in the state of Michigan.

Of interest to GUNS readers, Waters and Waters Jr. also give pretty good details about the guns and calibers used by the protagonists. Such information is often sorely lacking in many accounts, although one mistake was encountered. One Civil War character is said to have carried a Colt Navy .44. That should have read Colt Army .44. Another erroneous claim was the use of a Winchester Single Shot in 1876. A Winchester single-shot wouldn't be available for another nine years. But your correspondent had to work to find them. If tales of guns and true crime is of any interest to you, Outgunned will prove most satisfactory reading.

ISBN: 1-58182-386-X $14.95, paperback, from Cumberland House, 431 Harding Industrial Drive, Nashville, TN 37211, (615) 832-1171, www.cumberlandhouse.com.