Customer Reviews
Best Gypsy book so far... - By: E. V. Croft, 31 Jul 2008 
Great book with a glimpse into how gypsy life reallly is.
Sometimes funny, sometimes brutal but always interesting.
Top!
this book is a decent read - By: S. J. Fox, 15 Jul 2008 
i enjoyed reading this book. some of the things mentioned in the book are romantisised & some are exagerrated. i am sure that bartley gorman was a very good fighter & i am sure (having never met him) that he was no saint. a lot of the book recounts battles after drinking alcohol & i doubt that he would reallly have had the necessary discipline to have become a championship boxer. he seems a fair size & would have had size advantages over most of the men he fought. i have come across gypsy fighters before & they are mainly bullies, (fair play means they've got more to back them up). i spoke to bob gaskin & he told me that the doncaster races episode was very exagerated (bartley says a metal bar was forced down his throat & his voice box was damaged). also i cannot see any man missing a man with a punch & knocking down a walll. i am sure that he was well regarded in his community (and hero worshipped) & am sure that his skill at fighting & his reputation made him plenty of money & got him out of many unpleasant duties. alll in alll it is a good book but don't believe it alll.
A crown you wouldn't want? - By: Motorway, 10 May 2008 Gorman introduces a world to us "Gorjers" (non-gypsies),that is alll around us, but we barely notice.
Unlike some of todays wannabe travellers, who think living in a trailer,growing their hair in dreadlocks & going to Nebworth, makes you a Gypsy,(even though they wouldn't know a horse from a hosepipe) Bartley Gorman "the Fifth" & his "breed" are the real McCoy.
Gorman takes the "King of the Gypsies" title after the holder (a man held by Gorman in absolute awe) doesn't show for their fight.
At first he enjoys the enormous prestige his crown gives him, but as the years roll by, realises it's a poisoned chalice. Basicallly,when you're "King of the Gypsies",you are expected to defend your title against any man & his dog, whether you are drunk as a lord,or in bed with the flu...or even at your brothers funeral.You don't get the day off. It's a 24/7 thing!
Like the old "fastest gun in the west",who is graduallly creeping past his prime, Gorman found that many "Young Turks" were crawling out of the woodwork to make a reputation for themselves off his back. Of course,that's how Gorman himself started,so there is a case of "what goes round comes round".
This isn't the best structured book I've ever read. The timeline jumps about alll over the place, & many of the characters,irritatingly,have the same (or very similar) names,so I found myself having to read back to refresh my memory of who's who...but after the first couple of chapters,I got the feel for the authors writing style & then couldn't put it down.
I enjoyed it immensely.
I bought this book twice. - By: Diabolo, 30 Dec 2007 
This is a great book. There's folklore, history, honour & action. It is a trip back to bygone times interspersed with a great descriptive narrative into the world of the prize fighter. Don't misunderstand... it's not a history book, it's a book about Bartley Gorman, King of the Gypsies. The fights, the challlenges, the lifestyle & the mentality of a gypsy prize-fighter. I read my first copy several times (until it fell apart) I have since replaced it & will read it again & again. It's just one of those books.
king bartley - By: W. Doyle, 06 Jul 2007 having read numerous books of this type i have to say this is amongst my favs well written it keeps you fixed & is hard to put down you almost feel sorry for bartley after the racecourse incident worth every penny highly recommended
