My Thoughts on Brothers of the Gun: Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and a Reckoning in Tombstone by Mark Lee Gardner, 3/27/2026…

There’s something to be said for nonfiction books that read like novels, despite half of the book spent on notes and a bibliography (Do you read these parts? Or just finish the meaty bits and call it a day?). That word to be said? Satisfactory, in the most complimentary sense of the word.

Brothers of the Gun: Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and a Reckoning in Tombstone, by Mark Lee Gardner, is a vivid, accessible account of the lives of two Western icons and the climax of their lives, which was the shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Gardner has indeed done his homework—although I admittedly skipped right through the notes—referencing interviews, newspaper accounts, and other primary source documents to tell the legendary tale authentically.

What I appreciated most about this book is that both Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday were portrayed not as legendary saints (I learned a new word, hagiographic), but as fallible humans—their faults as well as their strengths, their curses as well as their blessings, their failures as well as their triumphs, were all even-handedly and deftly illustrated. I wish more nonfiction books were written with the right combination of flair and down-to-earth elements.

I recommend this book to those who admire Westerns and those who love to read well-written biographies/nonfiction accounts of true events.