Lenihan's fine study [brings] new levels of scholarship and sophistication to the study of western films.... Should prove useful in the classroom, both for social history and film history courses. It will introduce readers to a new way to view some of the old horse operas that they had once taken for granted as fluffy entertainment. -- Western American Literature 'The best of the recent books to deal with Westerns produced since World War II --- in fact, probably the best recent study of the Western. -- Journal of the West Recommended for the student of film and the hardcore film buff. The rest of you will be surprised, delighted, perhaps even angered by some of the conclusions Lenihan has come to. -- Film World