The subtitle of this book is "The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the Pony Express." It's a historical examination of both the Pony Express and the legends and stories that grew up around it. It's as maddening as it is interesting, but overall, it's great fun.

The first part of the book is about the Pony (as it was apparently affectionately known). It operated for about 18 months between 1860 and 1861 -- that fact itself was worth reading the book for. I was really surprised to learn that the Pony was in operation for such a short while.

The Pony's historical record is astonishingly thin -- a few newspaper articles from the time and a few autobiographies and biographies written decades later make up the whole of it. The papers of the company that founded the Pony (the Central Overland California & Pike's Peak Express Company)went bankrupt soon after the Pony ended, and all of its papers have been lost. No one can even state with assurance who the first rider was, or even whether Sacramento or San Francisco was its Western terminal.

But the stories! The stories of the Pony riders who braved harsh environments (from blizzards to forest fires to droughty deserts) and dangerous rides across empty and hostile lands are captivating. Most of these stories can't be verified from existing historical sources, but they are fascinating nonetheless.

Even more interesting is the second part of the book, which outlines how the legend of the Pony grew in books, shows like Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and movies. It's an interesting account of how the Pony grew to fill a gap in how Americans' understand ourselves and our history -- how we are a chosen people, made up of strong, independent individuals who can do anything to which we set our minds. In some sense, this part of the book is about the stories we as a nation tell ourselves about who we are and who we want to be.

This book is fun and interesting, but does have a few holes here and there -- Corbett doesn't draw some of the conclusions that seem obvious to me from his data. However, I do recommend the book.