Sifting through layers and layers of myth and legend, Peter Cozzens - the award-winning author of The Earth is Weeping - unveils the true face of Deadwood, South Dakota, the storied mining town that sprang up in early 1876, and was made famous by the HBO series of the same name.

Built on land brazenly stolen from the Lakotas, Deadwood was not merely a place where outlaws lurked, but was itself an outlaw enterprise, not part of any US territory or subject to its laws or governance. This gave rise to the gunslinging, stage-coach robbing, whiskey-guzzling, rampant prostitution and gambling that has come to epitomise the town through the legendary figures of 'Wild Bill' Hickok and Calamity Jane. But this foundation also bred a self-reliance and a spirit of cooperation unique on the frontier, which made it an exceptionally welcoming place for Black Americans and Chinese immigrants at a time of deep-seated discrimination.

The first book to tell this complex story in full, Deadwood reveals how one frontier town came to embody the best and worst of the West-enduring truths about humanity's eternal quest for creating order from chaos, a greater good from individual greed, and security from violence.