BookFronter
The Last Cowboys by John Branch

The Last Cowboys

An Pioneer Family in the New West

John Branch

WW Norton · Print & ebook · June 4, 2019

"A can't-put-it-down modern Western." —Kirk Siegler, NPR Longlisted for the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing The Last Cowboys is Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter John Branch’s epic tale of one American family struggling to hold on to the fading vestiges of the Old West.

Western U.S. HistoryRural LifeBiography & Memoirbook club
More
sociologyhistorypoliticalpolitics
Buy on Amazon

We earn from qualifying purchases.

Who it’s for
A layered Western history with a practical, straight-ahead voice and room to think.
Genres
Western U.S. History, Biography & Memoir, Rural Life
Published
WW Norton, June 4, 2019

Nearest books

Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved.

  1. Brothers of the GunMark Lee Gardner56% match
  2. The PioneersDavid McCullough57% match
  3. A Bold Return to Giving a DamnWill Harris, Penguin Audio50% match
  4. The Trouble With CowboysDenise Hunter, Kathryn Lynhurst51% match
  5. Dodge CityTom Clavin54% match
  6. The Dreamt LandMark Arax50% matchShares Western U.S. History
  7. Spying on the SouthTony Horwitz51% match
  8. Confederates in the AtticTony Horwitz48% match

For younger readers: The Compton Cowboys: Young Readers’ Edition, Shane, Mustang

Start with three books, and this one can be the first.

Members get a new edition every morning: a route out from their books to essays, research and talks, with the reason for each.

Start with this book

About this book

"A can't-put-it-down modern Western." —Kirk Siegler, NPR Longlisted for the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing The Last Cowboys is Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter John Branch’s epic tale of one American family struggling to hold on to the fading vestiges of the Old West. For generations, the Wrights of southern Utah have raised cattle and world-champion saddle-bronc riders—many call them the most successful rodeo family in history.

Continue reading

Now they find themselves fighting to save their land and livelihood as the West is transformed by urbanization, battered by drought, and rearranged by public-land disputes. Could rodeo, of all things, be the answer? Written with great lyricism and filled with vivid scenes of heartache and broken bones, The Last Cowboys is a powerful testament to the grit and integrity that fuel the American Dream.

Wide-Angle West

A layered Western history with a practical, straight-ahead voice and room to think.

Come here for

  • wide-angle Western history
  • serious, readable cultural context

Expect

  • rural life under pressure
  • historical scope without fuss

Where it sits

Rural Life71%
Biography & Memoir63%
Western U.S. History46%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Rural Life
  • Regional Studies
Authors
John Branch
Publisher
WW Norton
Published
June 4, 2019
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
Rural Life