Deadwood's Al Swearingen: Manifest Evil in the Gem Theatre

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He was the meanest man in a mean town-Deadwood. He was prone to violence, ruthless in romance, cutthroat in business. Al Swearingen ran the Gem Theatre with cunning, wicked self-interest, and his fists. You've followed the misdeeds and cuss-filled rants of the television character, now go inside the life-and death-of the real Al Swearingen. With meticulous research and lively writing, Deadwood historian and HBO Deadwood series consultant Jerry L. Bryant and-co-author Barbara Fifer shed new light on Al's scandalized childhood in Oskaloosa, Iowa-his nefarious dealings at his saloon and brothel in gold-rush-era Deadwood, and his brutal death (was he murdered?) in a Denver rail yard. Rare photographs of Al Swearingen and the Gem Theatre. Newspaper accounts of Al's scrapes with the law. New details on Al's family, and the violent demise of his twin brother. Al's 1904 obituary and-never before published-burial records. Come along for an inside look at the life and times of "the Devil of Deadwood." Book jacket.