The Wild West Catalog - Hardcover

Bruce Wexler has written numerous books on American history and pop culture, including The Wild, Wild West of Louis L'Amour, The Authentic South of Gone with the Wind, and more. He lives in London.

Grade 5 Up—Coverage in these 12 chapters includes cowboys, Native Americans, gunfighters, railroads, women, and the Old West in popular culture, including movies and toys, illustrating Wexler's assertion that "...the West has also permeated the very fabric of American life." Abundant color photographs and illustrations include copious photographs of guns. However, the photographs are not sourced and many of them are undated. There is heavy emphasis on the book comprising a "virtual tour" of the West from 1800 to 1900, but the author does not define the boundaries of the region. He makes reference to the West as "an untamed landscape," but not every group might agree with that assessment. There are typos such as "Lost" Angeles, and use of the word "colored." The main problem, however, is that the lack of a bibliography negates the use of this book as a reference tool.—Patricia Ann Owens, Wabash Valley College, Mt. Carmel, IL
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