Examines the ways in which the frontier myth influences American culture and politics, drawing on fiction, western films, and political writing

National Book Award Finalist: A study of national myths, lore, and identity that “will interest all those concerned with American cultural history” (America

Discusses the subjugation of Native Americans on the American frontier, and explains how it was used to justify American territorial expansion.

The Western genre has long been associated with right-wing and libertarian politics, and is said to promote individualism and free-market economics. In a new lo