Since his first celluloid depiction in 1908, Jesse James has been the subject of more than 40 films and has been portrayed by the likes of Tyrone Power, Audie Murphy, Robert Duvall, and Brad Pitt. Western author Johnny D. Boggs examines this cinematic heritage to separate fact from fiction and myth from reality.

Boggs has written more than 40 novels about the Old West. He is a six-time winner of the prestigious Spur Award from Western Writers of America, and in 2004 received the Western Heritage Wrangler Award.