A WORD FROM LOUIS L’AMOUR “Almost forty years ago, when my fiction was being published exclusively in ‘pulp’ western magazines, I wrote several novel-length stories, which my editors called ‘magazine novels.’ In creating them, I became so involved with my characters that their lives were still as much a part of me as I was of them long after the issues in which they appeared became collector’s items. Pleased as I was about how I brought the characters and their adventures to life in the pages of the magazines, I still wanted the reader to know more about my people and why they did what they did. So, over the years, I revised and expanded these magazine works into fuller-length novels that I published in paperback under other titles. “These particular early magazine versions of my books have long been a source of great speculation and curiosity among many of my readers, so much so of late, that I’m now pleased to collect three of them in book form for the first time. “I hope you enjoy them.”

Louis L'Amour is now one of the most iconic western writers of all time, but once upon a time he was Jim Mayo, a regular writer for the pulps. And some of the stories he wrote in those days stuck with him enough that he revised and expanded them into novels."The Trail to Peach Meadow Cañon" first appeared in Giant Western in October, 1949. The text was expanded and substantially changed when it subsequently was published as an original paperback titled Son of a Wanted Man in 1984."The Trail to Crazy Man" was first published in West in July of 1948, and was later expanded into a paperback original published by Ace Books in 1954 as Crossfire Trail, and was later made into a film starring Tom Selleck. But there was a special magic to the original stories, and after research and restoration, the stories appear here in their original version.

When Louis L'Amour's fiction was first being published exclusively in "pulp" Western magazines, he wrote several novel-length stories. Three of these tales--The Trail to Crazy Man, Riders of the Dawn, and Showdown on the Hogback--are collected here in one volume for fans who relish the idea of being able to enjoy the early works of a master storyteller.

Three short stories depict the adventures of cattlemen, gunfighters, and outlaws in the West

Louis L'Amour is now one of the most iconic Western writers of all time, but once upon a time he was Jim Mayo, a regular writer for the pulps. Some of the tales he wrote in those days stuck with him enough that he later revised and expanded them into novels. But there was a special magic to the originals, and after research and restoration, these stories appear here now in their original form. In "The Trail to Peach Meadow Canon," Mike Bastian, taken in by the legendary outlaw Ben Curry as an orphaned child and raised to one day take over his empire of crime, finds that day has come. As he prepares for his first criminal job, a gold-train robbery, Mike must decide whether to follow the path laid out before him or to carve out a destiny of his own. In the title story, Charles Rodney, shanghaied and forced into labor on a merchant vessel, eventually dies from repeated beatings-but not before deeding part of his ranch to Rafe Caradec, whom he hopes will protect his family.

Gunfighter Matt Brennan rides into a range war and meets the woman of his dreams.

A WORD FROM LOUIS L’AMOUR “Almost four decades ago, when my fiction was being published exclusively in ‘pulp’ western magazines, I wrote a number of novel-length stories, known back then as ‘magazine novels.’ In creating them, I lived with my characters so closely that their lives were still as much a part of me as I was of them long after the issues in which they appeared went out of print. Proud as I was of how I presented the characters and their adventures in the pages of the magazines, I wanted to tell the reader more about my people and why they did what they did. So, over the years, I revised and expanded these magazine works into novels that I published as full-length paperbacks under different titles. “These particular early magazine versions of my books have long been a source of considerable speculation and curiosity among many of my readers, so much so of late, that now I’ve decided to bring four of my ‘magazine novels’ back into print in this latest volume of my short fiction. “I hope you enjoy them.” FEATURING • Showdown Trail • A Man Called Trent • The Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon • The Rider of the Ruby Hills