Buffalo Bill Cody: An Autobiography

I am an avid reader of History in general, but focus on American History.Buffalo Bill has always intrigued me and loved him since my childhood after hearing my grandmother tell me that she had seen his Wild West show when it came to Chicago.Although this is an autobiography, I find it hard to believe this is written in 'his words'. The language is very romantic, the facts are unusually accurate (details of minutia about names of scouts and ranks of officer ranks, etc.) and at times a bit flowery.However, the book is quite enjoyable. It reads like a "who's who?" of the American Frontier and is well-documented that Bill Cody had first hand relationships with many of these American Heroes. In particular, I found his observations about Bill Hickock especially insightful (his observation of Hickock's personality), his descriptions of the well known gun battles or fights and otherwise just plain entertaining.Nothing new about history in here, but quite enjoyable first hand account of Bill's Wild West. On a final note, I do not like ( but accept) the attitude toward American Native written in this book. Whether it is his (attitude) or that of his helper in writing the book, I find it condescending, demeaning and otherwise irritable.

This is an unbelievable man, when you read of all his experiences the things that shine through is Character, and integrity, this is a man for the ages.

Interesting read, but seemed like he might have been a little full of himself on some of the adventures he had done. But still glad I read it.

If I could give zero stars I would. If you have knowledge of the Indian side of the story at all you will recognize most of this book as BS. Some of the stories I actually googled and found them to be false. This is an obvious way for Bill Cody to make his own history and legacy at the expense of the truth. If you are looking for Non-Fiction books about the west skip this one for sure. Sorry I wasted my money and time with it.

Great read. Yes we know Cody had a tendancy to make it more of a story and less of a report, but still a very readable and enjoyable book on the plains life. I agree that it really trailed off at the end and we did not get much of a glance of the traveling show years, perhaps because that was so often wrought with financial problems, other than that it was good to read this again since I had not read it since early teen years. And on kindle it is $0......can't beat it if you like reading about the West.

This is a fun book! Cody tells his early life story in thrilling episodes which may be just a bit embellished. Few other biographies give this kind of detail on his early life. It is also child appropriate although the vocabulary (belligerent, notwithstanding, endeavoring, profound, conspicuous) would make it difficult for some younger readers.

This tells the true story of life in the West in this period of history! Great reading and a good read for anyone who loves hearing about the Wild West!!

Bill's adventures seem too incredible to believe, but he tells them in such a matter of fact way that you just do. Interesting to see the different perspective of the times: pure joy and not a bit of conscience when killing dozens of buffalo in a matter of minutes for pure sport; pursuing entire villages of Indians as an army scout to clean up the west for the white man; and riding all day and night among hostile Indians to deliver dispatches. He seems to revel in danger and hardship, and be disappointed when the Indians are at last subdued. Well worth the read.

...dann macht es richtig Spaß.Wenn man so mit auf die Reise geht, was der Mann so erlebt hat in seinem Leben, ist das schon ziemlich beeindruckend. In einer Zeit zu leben, in der noch alles möglich schien und in der sich wahnsinnig viel verändert hat, kommt als Gefühl genau rüber und nimmt den Leser mit. Dass Hr. Cody nicht unter mangelndem Selbstvertrauen gelitten hat, wird auch klar (tatsächlich erreicht man gewisse Dinge ja auch nicht ohne), aber wenn man das mal mit einem Schmunzeln zur Kenntnis nimmt, macht das Buch richtig Spaß. Leider, wie auch schon andere Rezensenten geschrieben haben, erfährt man über die Reisen der Show, auch durch Europa, nichts mehr - das wäre noch sehr spannend gewesen.Fazit: Für Thematik-Interessierte ein Muss, um mal die Originalstimme der Zeit zu hören - spannend, interessant, amüsant.