{"product_id":"9780063307025_queen-of-all-mayhem","title":"Queen of All Mayhem","description":"\u003cp\u003eA riveting, deeply researched, blood-on-the-spurs biography of Belle Starr, the most legendary female outlaw of the American West. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn February 3, 1889, just two days shy of her forty-first birthday, Myra Maybelle Shirley—better known at that point by her outlaw sobriquet “Belle Starr”—was blown from her horse saddle and killed by a pair of shotgun blasts, delivered by an unseen assailant, only a few miles away from her home in the Indian Territory of present-day Oklahoma. Thus ended the life of one of the most colorful, authentic, and dangerous women in the history of the American West.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile today’s household names like Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane had dubious criminal bona fides, Belle’s were not in any doubt. This notorious gunslinger led a gang of horse thieves (a very serious crime in an era when horses were often the basis of one’s livelihood); was romantically involved with two of the West’s most legendary outlaws, Cole Younger and Jim Reed (her first husband); and participated in stickups and robberies across present-day Texas and Oklahoma. When Reed was murdered, Belle crossed into the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory, where she assimilated into the Cherokee tribe, a matrilineal society, and soon married Sam Starr, a direct descendant of Nanye’hi, the greatest female warrior in Cherokee history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDane Huckelbridge, acclaimed author of \u003ci\u003eNo Beast So Fierce\u003c\/i\u003e, probes a life rich in contradictions and intrigue. Why did a woman who had considerable advantages in life—a good family, a decent education, solid marriage prospects, a clear path to financial security—choose to pursue a life of crime? The life of Belle Starr, the Bandit Queen, is one of almost endless trauma: the horrors of the Civil War, which destroyed her hometown and killed her beloved brother, Bud; the untimely deaths of her first two husbands, both of them murdered; a stint in Detroit’s notorious women’s prison. Her career coincided with those of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and yet Belle Starr was a very different sort of feminist icon.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eQueen of All Mayhem\u003c\/i\u003e is a triumph of American history biography, revealing one of the most-mythologized figures of Western lore as she truly was.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis definitive look at the real Belle Starr separates fact from fiction to explore:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA True Female Outlaw:\u003c\/b\u003e Unlike contemporaries like Annie Oakley, Belle Starr’s criminal bona fides were never in doubt, from leading horse thieves to her romantic involvement with the legendary Cole Younger.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe Civil War's Influence:\u003c\/b\u003e Discover how the horrors of the war, which destroyed her hometown and killed her beloved brother, set a woman of privilege on a path of rebellion and crime.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eIndian Territory Life:\u003c\/b\u003e Explore her assimilation into the Cherokee tribe, a matrilineal society where she married Sam Starr—a descendant of the nation’s greatest female warrior—and carved out her own domain.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA 19th-Century Anomaly:\u003c\/b\u003e Go beyond the mythology to understand the complex woman who defied expectations to become a very different kind of icon from her contemporaries, like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Dane Huckelbridge","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47132738551957,"sku":"9780063307025","price":29.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/x750_0910b163-3322-47aa-bf0f-2234802af3c4.jpg?v=1776889809","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9780063307025_queen-of-all-mayhem","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}