The Notorious Reno Gang, Rachel Dickinson
The Notorious Reno Gang, Rachel Dickinson
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
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The Notorious Reno Gang
The Wild Story of the West's First Brotherhood of Thieves, Assassins, and Train Robbers

Author: Rachel Dickinson

Narrator: Arthur Flavell

Unabridged: 9 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/30/2019


Synopsis

The true story of the world's first robbery of a moving train, and the real origins of the Wild West.

They were the first outlaws to rob a moving train. But from 1864 to 1868, the Reno brothers and their gang of counterfeiters, robbers, burglars, and safecrackers also held the town of Seymour, Indiana, hostage, making a large hotel near the train station their headquarters. When the gang robbed the Adams Express car of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad on the outskirts of Seymour on October 6, 1866, it shocked the world—and made other burgeoning outlaws like Jesse James sit up and take notice. The extraordinary—and extra-legal—efforts to take them out defined the term "frontier justice." From the first report of the robbery, Allan Pinkerton's operatives were on the scene, followed by kidnappings, lynchings, and an extradition from Canada to Indiana that caused an international incident. In the end, ten members of the Reno Gang were hanged, including three of the Reno brothers. And no one was ever charged with the murders.

The Notorious Reno Gang tells the complete story for the first time, revealing how these gangsters, Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency, and the little city of Seymour ushered in the Wild West.

About Rachel Dickinson

Rachel Dickinson is a writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including the Atlantic, Smithsonian.com, Outside, Men's Journal, American Way, Aeon, Salon, and Audubon. She has been awarded two Travel Classics awards, an American Society of Journalists and Authors award for best book, a National Endowment for the Humanities Youth Fellowship, and a coveted Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. The author of Falconer on the Edge and The Notorious Reno Gang, she lives in Freeville, New York.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Elwin on July 11, 2022

"It was amazing." - 5 out of 5 star rating. What makes Reno Gang so good and ultimately the decision point of me pushing it up to a 5, was what this book covers outside of the scope of just the notorious Reno Gang. By the cover and title if you are like you me, you expect a fun filled book of train......more

Goodreads review by Saxon on March 14, 2023

Not bad. loved the Vigilance committee. More bad ass than the robbers......more

Goodreads review by Deb on June 24, 2017

I received this book through Netgalley. I enjoy historical genre books and this filled the niche. It is more than a story about the Reno Gang. It includes historical information about statehood (for Indiana, Ohio, Illinois) and formation of the town of Seymour, Indiana. The book provides insight int......more

Goodreads review by Gloria on May 21, 2017

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book. A well researched and detailed discussion of the Reno Gang, the first ever train robbery, Allan Pinkerton and law enforcement officers, and life during the period just after the Civil War. The detail became tedious at times but also ver......more

Goodreads review by Mark on October 22, 2020

A compelling narrative in its own right, this book taught me a lot about crime as American society developed. Great read, great history.......more