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Louis L’Amour was the most decorated author in the history of American letters and a recipient of the Medal of Freedom.

Now collected here in a single book are several of Louis L’Amour’s finest Western stories the way Mr. L’Amour wrote them. At the time Louis L’Amour was writing, it was common practice for editors to rewrite the manuscript to fit certain publishing criteria. The text of The Strong Land has been restored, and the stories within it appear as Mr. L’Amour intended for them to be read.

Whether you’re new to the thrilling frontier fiction of Louis L’Amour or one of his legions of fans, these six short stories will assure you that you are in the hands of a master storyteller.

Included here are:

“The One for the Mohave Kid,”

“His Brother’s Debt,”

“A Strong Land Growing,”

“Lit a Shuck for Texas,”

“The Nester and the Paiute,” and

“Barney Takes a Hand.”

InRiders of the Dawn,a young gunslinger is changed for the better by a meeting with a beautiful woman. A classic range-war western, this novel features that powerful, romantic, strangely compelling vision of the American West for which L''Amour''s fiction is known. In the author''s words, "It was a land where nothing was small, nothing was simple. Everything, the lives of men and the stories they told, ran to extremes."

This story is one of Louis L''Amour''s early creations that have long been a source of speculation and curiosity among his fans. Early in L''Amour''s career, he wrote a number of novel-length stories for pulp-western magazines. Long after they were out of print, the characters of these early stories still haunted him, and so by revising and expanding these stories he created his first novels.

This is a must-have for the legions of fans Louis L''Amour has captivated with his unparalleledability to weave a classic tale of the West.

It was a land where nothing was small, nothing was simple. Everything, the lives of men and the stories they told, ran to extremes.

Shanghaied into forced labor on a merchant vessel, Charles Rodney dies aboard ship from repeated beatings—but not before deeding part of his ranch to Rafe Caradec, whom he hopes will protect his family.

A word from Louis L''Amour:

"Almost forty years ago, when my fiction was being published exclusively in ''pulp'' western magazines, I wrote several novel-length stories, which my editors called ''magazine novels.'' In creating them, I became so involved with my characters that their lives were still as much a part of me as I was of them long after the issues in which they appeared became collector''s items. Pleased as I was about how I brought the characters and their adventures to life in the pages of the magazines, I still wanted the reader to know more about my people and why they did what they did. So, over the years, I revised and expanded these magazine works into fuller-length novels…I hope you enjoy them."

The Trail to Crazy Man is one of Louis L''Amour''s finest short novels, originally serialized in early "pulp" Western magazines, now offered again in book form in response to widespread interest among L''Amour''s many fans.

Early in Louis L’Amour’s career, he wrote a number of novel-length stories for “pulp” western magazines. “I lived with my characters so closely that their lives were still as much a part of me as I was of them long after the issues in which they appeared went out of print,” he said. “I wanted to tell the reader more about my people and why they did what they did.” So he revised and expanded these magazine works to be published again as full-length novels. Here is one of his early creations, which have long been a source of great speculation and curiosity among his fans.

A Man Called Trent opens on nester Dick Moffitt lying dead where he was killed by King Bill Hale’s riders. His son Jack and adopted daughter Sally, who witnessed the murder, go for safety to a cabin owned by a man called “Trent”—an alias for Kilkenny, who is seeking to escape his reputation as a gunfighter.

A collection of two stories by beloved Western writer Louis L''Amour

In "The Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon," Mike Bastian has been raised by outlaw chief Ben Curry and trained in frontier skills by Curry''s most trusted associates. Curry now wants to retire from leadership of the gang he has headed for years. But he is frustrated in this ambition by various factions within his gang who want to seize leadership and by Mike himself, who is not sure that he wants to lead the life of an outlaw.

In "Showdown Trail," Rock Bannon, wounded in an Indian attack, is rescued by a wagon train. When the train pulls into a fort to stock up on supplies, the leaders of the train meet the smooth-talking Morton Harper, who persuades them to take an easier trail. But Bannon knows that there will be no escape from attack on that route—and that it will lead the train directly into Hardy Bishop''s vicious land war.

A collection of classic Western tales

"Ca+¦on Walls" by Zane Grey

Smoke Bellew enters a remote Mormon settlement only a jump ahead of a posse. Finding employment as a ranch hand working for a dowager Mormon, Smoke finds that his life undergoes a transformation and he is able to make her ranch a financial success, at the same time falling in love with her wanton daughter, Rebecca. But it is too good to last. The law follows him.

"Black Sheep" by Max Brand

Young Mary Valentine—upstart, tomboy, and general troublemaker—is seeking to protect a man wanted by the law. To complicate her life even further, her two cousins, who have been dodging the law, return home and decide with their father to join the notorious Markle gang in holding up the local bank.

"Showdown on the Hogback" by Louis L''Amour

Tom Kedrick is hired by a financial syndicate to run off a gang of vagrants and outlaws from a certain strip of land. Kedrick sets out to serve justice, but to his dismay, these "vagrants and outlaws" turn out to be hard working ranchers and farmers also claiming the land.

A collection of classic Western tales

From Missouri by Zane Grey

When a pretty new schoolteacher arrives, the Springer ranch hands are falling over themselves to impress her. But the lecherous Beady Jones has his own idea of how the new schoolmarm should be introduced to the West.

Over the Northern Border by Max Brand

Jack Trainor, a fugitive from justice, becomes lost in the Canadian Rockies. A trapper finds Jack and saves him. Over the course of some months, he repays the trapper for his kindness in a way that causes some difficulty.

Riders of the Dawn by Louis L''Amour

A young gunslinger is changed for the better by a meeting with a beautiful woman. A classic range-war Western, this novel features that powerful, romantic, strangely compelling vision of the American West for which L''Amour''s fiction is known.