03/19/2018
With breezy efficiency, DeFelice (American Sniper) traces the life and death of the Central Overland California & Pikes Peak Express Company, commonly known as the Pony Express, or the Pony. The legendary cross-country mail service, the creation of businessmen William Russell, William Waddell, and Alexander Majors, was established in April 1860 and lasted for a mere 18 months. DeFelice argues that the Pony “existed on the cusp of great change, partook of that change, and both affected and was consumed by it.” The sheer force of the narrative, however, overshadows the argument, and it’s a pretty wild ride. DeFelice frames his story with the six-day November 1860 trip that brought news of Abraham Lincoln’s presidential victory from St. Joseph, Mo., to Sacramento, Calif., the Pony’s main route. The ride, including employees’ encounters with feuding settlers in Kansas, bison stampedes, and hostile Native Americans, is rendered in fine, thrilling detail. DeFelice debunks oft-told stories about the Pony, especially the involvement of “Wild Bill” Hickok and Buffalo Bill Cody. He peppers the narrative with details about the cost of the service (initially $5 for a letter weighing up to half an ounce), the procedure for changing horses, specifications of the riders’ mail pouches (called mochilas) and guns, even the kinds of food the riders ate. Fans of the Old West will find many delightful nuggets in this fast-moving story. Illus. (May)
West Like Lightning is sure to stand amongst the great popular histories of the west. ... A wild ride.” — Tombstone Epitaph
“A groundbreaking work on the Pony Express. ... The first comprehensive history of the legendary transcontinental experiment in mail delivery in sixty years. ... Like the Pony Express riders themselves, DeFelice paces the dramatic story with alacrity and diligence.” — True West
"This rollicking account of the daring enterprise known as the Pony Express brings its era and its legendary characters to life." — San Francisco Chronicle
“Incredible true stories of [Pony Express] riders’ exploits and more.” — New York Times
“The most romantic chapter of the Old West may well be that of the Pony Express. The story of intrepid young riders dashing across the prairie, pitting themselves against Indians, accidents and bad weather never fails to thrill readers. West Like Lightning ... takes on the whole Western frontier.” — Denver Post
“DeFelice shares how he retraced the Pony’s steps, fully immersing himself into the lore and legends of hte historic ride. ... On his journey, he manages to separate fact from fiction—and uncover a darker side to the venture.” — Parade
“West Like Lighting reads like the title—a fast-paced narrative of the Pony Express. ... One can hear horse hooves pounding across the prairie and sense the fear and courage and excitement of dashing young men.” — TOM CLAVIN, New York Times-bestselling author of Dodge City and co-author of The Heart of Everything That Is
“A wild ride … rendered in fine, thrilling detail.. ... Delightful.” — Publishers Weekly
“This wonderfully vivid, accessible, and documented account of the Pony Express is a legendary American adventure story. Highly recommended.” — Library Journal
“DeFelice brings [the Pony Express] to galloping life. … Fans of frontier history and lore will relish the incomparable stories he relates.” — Booklist
“A lively history of the short-lived but much-evoked Pony Express. … Good stuff for Western history buffs.” — Kirkus Reviews
"This rollicking account of the daring enterprise known as the Pony Express brings its era and its legendary characters to life."
A groundbreaking work on the Pony Express. ... The first comprehensive history of the legendary transcontinental experiment in mail delivery in sixty years. ... Like the Pony Express riders themselves, DeFelice paces the dramatic story with alacrity and diligence.
West Like Lightning is sure to stand amongst the great popular histories of the west. ... A wild ride.
West Like Lighting reads like the title—a fast-paced narrative of the Pony Express. ... One can hear horse hooves pounding across the prairie and sense the fear and courage and excitement of dashing young men.
The most romantic chapter of the Old West may well be that of the Pony Express. The story of intrepid young riders dashing across the prairie, pitting themselves against Indians, accidents and bad weather never fails to thrill readers. West Like Lightning ... takes on the whole Western frontier.”
"This rollicking account of the daring enterprise known as the Pony Express brings its era and its legendary characters to life."
DeFelice brings [the Pony Express] to galloping life. … Fans of frontier history and lore will relish the incomparable stories he relates.
DeFelice shares how he retraced the Pony’s steps, fully immersing himself into the lore and legends of hte historic ride. ... On his journey, he manages to separate fact from fiction—and uncover a darker side to the venture.
Incredible true stories of [Pony Express] riders’ exploits and more.
01/01/2017
Getting mail cross country in ten days despite the 1,500 miles of searing deserts, snow-glazed mountains, and resistant Natives in the American West, the Pony Express became a part of America's mythology. With a 75,000-copy first printing.
2018-03-06
Of thundering hooves and priority mail: a lively history of the short-lived but much-evoked Pony Express.As novelist and pop historian DeFelice (The Helios Conspiracy, 2012, etc.) acknowledges throughout, there's not much that we know with absolute certainty about some of the players and events in the Pony Express effort, a private enterprise for which records are not always available. The service was fast—a letter could cross half the continent in 10 days thanks to the relay system of riders and fast horses—but "the idea of speed was really the important thing" in a time when telegraph lines were going up and plans for a transcontinental railroad were being conjured. The key players were an unlikely mix of slaveholders, frontiersmen, freighters, and entrepreneurs who saw opportunity in providing a communications infrastructure to a military stretched out across a vast, sparsely settled region. But there's much more to the Pony Express than just business history, for it threads into a landscape populated by young legends-to-be like Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok, whose stories DeFelice happily weaves into the narrative: Courage and stamina were desiderata, of course, but as he notes, "if gunplay figured into it, so much the better, but you didn't have to be literally wild to be celebrated. Being tenacious and undaunted in the face of myriad hardships would do." There's plenty in the memories of supposed riders like Cody to suggest truth but not much hard evidence to say that they were actually onboard, which lends a nice hazy touch to the whole legend. Soon enough—in just a couple of years—the likes of Western Union, founded by an associate of Samuel Morse, "whose greatest genius was his ability to acquire and merge the various small companies operating local lines," would put an end to the Pony Express, but for all that, it lives on in memory.Good stuff for Western history buffs, to say nothing of fans of the Post Office.
DeFelice brings [the Pony Express] to galloping life. … Fans of frontier history and lore will relish the incomparable stories he relates.
The Pony Express lasted just nineteen months. Yet in that short time, its visionary proprietors and lionhearted riders carved out a place in the American imagination as big as the 1,900 miles of prairie, mountains, and desert the fabled mail line traversed. Whether riding along vicariously, or retracing the old route over modern highways, Jim DeFelice’s West Like Lightning is a great place to start.
Around 1860, three men decided to create a faster way to deliver mail throughout the United States. This audiobook tells the story of the famed Pony Express from its beginning to its end only 18 months later. Narrator John Pruden turns this slice of American history into an entertaining performance filled with men of legend such as Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody, and even Mark Twain. Listeners hear the Western twang of these characters, including the cowboys who raced across the territories through Indian lands, harsh wilderness, and searing heat to transport the mail. The story of these amazing men, especially told by Pruden, will engage history buffs and general listeners alike. E.E.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Around 1860, three men decided to create a faster way to deliver mail throughout the United States. This audiobook tells the story of the famed Pony Express from its beginning to its end only 18 months later. Narrator John Pruden turns this slice of American history into an entertaining performance filled with men of legend such as Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody, and even Mark Twain. Listeners hear the Western twang of these characters, including the cowboys who raced across the territories through Indian lands, harsh wilderness, and searing heat to transport the mail. The story of these amazing men, especially told by Pruden, will engage history buffs and general listeners alike. E.E.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine