George W. (George Washington) Agee

George W. Agee, or George Washington Agee, lived from 1846 to 1909 and is remembered as the author of Rube Burrow, King of Outlaws, and His Band of Train Robbers. That book helped preserve the story of Reuben Burrow, one of the best-known train robbers of the post-Civil War South, in a form meant for general readers.

Agee's writing sits in the borderland between history, crime narrative, and popular storytelling. Rather than writing fiction, he presented Burrow's exploits as a factual and engaging chronicle, reflecting the strong public appetite of the time for real-life outlaw tales.

Little biographical information about Agee was easy to confirm beyond his dates and authorship, so the focus remains on the book that keeps his name in circulation. For listeners interested in older true-crime writing and the legends that grew up around American outlaws, his work still has period flavor and plenty of momentum.