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Friday, May 3, 2024
My Washington Times 'On Crime' Column On Wild West Bank Robbers, A Notorious Traitor, And A Movie Star & Her Gangster Lover
The Washington Times ran my On Crime column on
three historical true crime books.
You can read the column via the below link or the below text:
I’ve recently read and enjoyed three interesting historical true
crime books. They cover Wild West bank robbers, a notorious traitor, a movie
star and her gangster boyfriend.
Tom Clavin has written excellent books
about Texas Rangers, Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, all of
which I’ve covered here. His latest book, “The Last Outlaws: The Desperate
Final Days of the Dalton Gang,” is about three of the four Dalton brothers and
their gang, who began stealing horses and graduated to robbing banks and
trains.
The Dalton Gang is most famous for the
simultaneous 1892 robberies of two banks in broad daylight in Coffeyville,
Kansas. The gang, consisting of “Grat,” Bob and Emmett Dalton, Bill Power and
Dick Broadwell, was recognized by the townspeople, who armed themselves and
began a shootout with the notorious outlaws as they left the banks. The epic
gunfight left eight men dead, including four of the five members of the Dalton
Gang.
Mr. Clavin, a fine Wild West historian, writes of
the connection and rivalry between the infamous James Gang and the Dalton Gang
and the relentless pursuit of the Dalton Gang by Deputy U.S. Marshal Bill
Tilghman and other lawmen.
There is perhaps no villain more
despicable in American history than Benedict Arnold, who betrayed Gen. George
Washington and went over to the British in the Revolutionary War. As Jack Kelly
notes in his outstanding book about the traitor, “God Save Benedict Arnold: The
True Story of America’s Most Hated Man,” Arnold was a brilliant soldier in
Washington’s Colonial Army, leading victories at Fort Ticonderoga, Quebec and
Saratoga.
Mr. Kelly describes the battles well and
depicts Arnold as a fearless military officer and leader. He covers the life
story of Arnold (1741-1801), describing his life as the son of a merchant
trader and background as a merchant, trader and commercial sea captain prior to
joining the Continental Army.
One can almost sympathize with Arnold
when reading about how poorly the Continental Congress treated the bold and
severely wounded soldier and how others took credit for his military successes.
Mr. Kelly tells us that Arnold had a special relationship with George
Washington, who was impressed with Arnold as a soldier. The general and future
president was deeply hurt when Arnold defected to the British.
Paul Davis is a writer who covers crime. He has written extensively about organized crime, cybercrime, street crime, white collar crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. His 'On Crime' column appears in the Washington Times and his 'Crime Beat' column appears here. He is also a regular contributor to Counterterrorism magazine and writes their online 'Threatcon' column. Paul Davis' crime fiction appears in American Crime Magazine. His work has also appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Weekly and other publications. As a writer, he has attended police academy training, gone out on patrol with police officers, accompanied detectives as they worked cases, accompanied narcotics officers on drug raids, observed criminal court proceedings, visited jails and prisons, and covered street riots, mob wars and murder investigations. He has interviewed police commissioners and chiefs, FBI, DEA, HSI and other federal special agents, prosecutors, public officials, WWII UDT frogmen, Navy SEALs, Army Delta operators, Israeli commandos, military intelligence officers, Scotland Yard detectives, CIA officers, former KGB officers, film and TV actors, writers and producers, journalists, novelists and true crime authors, gamblers, outlaw bikers, and Cosa Nostra organized crime bosses. Paul Davis has been a student of crime since he was a 12-year-old aspiring writer growing up in South Philadelphia. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy when he was 17 in 1970. He served aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War and he later served two years aboard the Navy harbor tugboat U.S.S. Saugus at the U.S. floating nuclear submarine base at Holy Loch, Scotland. He went on to do security work as a Defense Department civilian while working part-time as a freelance writer. From 1991 to 2005 he was a producer and on-air host of "Inside Government," a public affairs interview radio program that aired Sundays on WPEN AM and WMGK FM in the Philadelphia area. You can read Paul Davis' crime columns, crime fiction, book reviews and news and feature articles on this website. You can read his full bio by clicking on the above photo. And you can contact Paul Davis at pauldavisoncrime@aol.com
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