Sam Leith Sam Leith

The real Calamity Jane was distressingly unlike her legend

Apart from the fact that she wore trousers, swore like a navvy and was drunk all the time, she had nothing in common with the dare-devil frontierswoman of folklore

  • Comments

  • Calamity: The Many Lives of Calamity Jane

    Karen R. Jones

    Yale, pp. 303, £20

Already a subscriber? Log in

This article is for subscribers only

Subscribe today to get 3 months' delivery of the magazine, as well as online and app access, for only £3.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

  • Weekly delivery of the magazine
  • Unlimited access to our website and app
  • Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts
  • Explore our online archive, going back to 1828

Read next

Trending

Anne de Courcy

The identical twins who captivated literary London

From the magazine
The dazzlingly beautiful identical twins Mamaine and Celia Paget were born in 1916 and brought up in rural Suffolk – not the greatest springboard, you would think, for lives at the intellectual heart of the mid-20th century. Yet the list of their friends reads like a roll call of literary notables: Dick Wyndham, Peter Quennell,

Also in Book Reviews

Also by Sam Leith

Latest

Comments

A blooming good offer

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting the next 3 months for £3.

Already a subscriber? Log in