This wideranging book illuminates the importance of the Western in Americanhistory. It explores the interconnections between the Western in bothliterature and f... » 

This wideranging book illuminates the importance of the Western in Americanhistory. It explores the interconnections between the Western in bothliterature and film and the United States in the 20th century.Structured chronologically the book traces the evolution of the Western as auniquely American form. The author argues that Americas frontier past wasquickly transformed into a set of symbols and myths an American metanarrativethat came to underpin much of the American century. He details how and whythis process occurred the form and function of Western myths and symbols theevolution of this mythology and its subversions and reconstructions throughout20thcentury American history.The book engages with the full range of historical literary and cinematicperspectives and texts from the founding Western histories of TheodoreRoosevelt and Frederick Jackson Turner to the New Western history of PatriciaNelson Limerick and Richard White.Key texts used to illustrate the narrative includeOwen Wisters The VirginianJack Schaefers ShaneCormac McCarthys Blood MeridianIshmael Reeds Yellow Back Radio Broke DownFilms from Edwin Porters The Great Train Robbery to Fred Zinnemans High Noonand from Clint Eastwoods Unforgiven to the post 911 Westerns Open Range TheAlamo and Brokeback MountainThis book is an essential and comprehensive analysis of the significance andenduring legacy of the American Western.Key FeaturesIncludes chapters on Western history literature and filmShows the interconnections between the Western in all its forms and 20thcentury American history politics culture and societyThe only book to take a multidisciplinary approach to the subject «