A splendid savage

Burnham's life story resembles a newsreel fused with a Saturday matinee thriller. His adventures encompassed Apache wars and range feuds, booms and busts in mining camps around the globe, explorations in remote regions of Africa, and death-defying military feats that brought him renown and high honors. After a lifetime pursuing golden prospects from the deserts of Mexico and Africa to the tundra of the Klondike, Burnham found wealth, in his sixties, near his childhood home in southern California. Kemper brings a quintessential American story to vivid life in this gripping biography.