Smith's research into the Northfield, Minnesota, raid is broad, but the nature of the evidence prevents him from constructing a simple narrative with all details laid out in a straightforward, no questions manner. Quick, violent events such as the Northfield gun battle inevitably leave witnesses confused and contradictions are inescapable. Moreover, the outlaws' own accounts appear more concerned with providing excuses and whitewashing their activities than relating the truth. And, finally, the stories from both sides were very often exagerrated and distorted by the newspapers and books which reported them.

Time and time again, Smith relates several different versions of some particular incident, pointing out improbabilities and sometimes identifying the most likely truth, but very often only a best guess at what really happended can be made. Nonetheless, Smith's reconstruction of events held my attention and, in the end, I celebrate with him the victory of those Minnesota farmers and shopkeepers over the hoodlums who thought they would be easy picking.