PICTURE FRAMING as a Business

Jesse James was to the Wild West what Osama bin Laden became to the world more than a century on. A terrorist to his core, James was fuelled by hatred, prejudice and a determination to kill bigtime. The subtitle of this book, Last Rebel Of The Civil War, gives a clue to the outlaw's motivation. Jesse James advocated slavery, and when he emerged on the losing side of the American Civil War he continued the fight on his own terms. Award-winning American historian T J Stiles shows James as he really was - a murderous thug and not the Robin Hood-type character beloved of corny movies and comic strips. Yet James was in his own way also a victim, having been indoctrinated with obnoxious political views as a child. His father was a pro-slavery preacher who died in the California gold rush, while his mother was as outspoken a white supremacist as a boy was likely to meet. Brainwashed and deluded he may have been, but James was no fool. He manipulated public opinion by way of the press and might have gone on killing for longer than he did but for an overweening love of himself which bred arrogance. Given this, and the multitude of squalid acts he committed almost daily, it is a wonder that James became a legend in our lifetime, let alone in his own. Stiles explains how this came about, and gets close to the soul of a man who eventually died in the most ignominious of ways. It is a compelling story meticulously researched and well told, and in revealing much about Jesse James it also teaches us a lot about the mindset of today's terrorists. (Kirkus UK)