The traditional Western, a genre that saw its height from the 1940s to the 1960s, seemed to go out of disfavor for various reasons. Regionalism, a trademark of many Westerns, somehow took on a bad name. Modern society also seemed to forget the Western, deeming it colloquial. While Louis L’Amour seemed to weather the storm, even well past his passing, many other Western authors seem to have struggled to place their books on bestseller lists.
That’s why it was refreshing to read Alan Van Ormer’s Freedom Flight, the story of Rye Tyler, who was sent away as a young boy, and due to his heroic exploits, became a spy in the Confederate army and was later confined to a Union prison in Murfreesboro, Tenn., condemned to hang.
Read all of Michael Tideman's review of Alan Van Ormer's book in the Dec. 3 Kossuth County Advance.