Gunfighter Nation: Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America, The 21809th Edition

by Richard Slotkin (Author)

39 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0806130316

ISBN-10: 9780806130316

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Gunfighter Nation completes Richard Slotkin’s trilogy, begun in Regeneration Through Violence and continued in Fatal Environment, on the myth of the American frontier. Slotkin examines an impressive array of sources - fiction, Hollywood westerns, and the writings of Hollywood figures and Washington leaders - to show how the racialist theory of Anglo-Saxon ascendance and superiority (embodied in Theodore Roosevelt’s The Winning of the West), rather than Frederick Jackson Turner’s thesis of the closing of the frontier, exerted the most influence in popular culture and government policy making in the twentieth century. He argues that Roosevelt’s view of the frontier myth provided the justification for most of America’s expansionist policies, from Roosevelt’s own Rough Riders to Kennedy’s counterinsurgency and Johnson’s war in Vietnam.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Gunfighter Nation concludes Richard Slotkin's three-volume study, which began in 1973 with the publication of Regeneration Through Violence, of the significance of the frontier in the American imagination. Looking primarily at pulp novels and films, Slotkin takes a painstakingly thorough look at the relationship between imagery of the West in industrial mass culture and U.S. foreign policy during the 20th century. Specifically, he looks at how the previous century's "frontier aristocrat" served as the model diplomat for America's agenda of economic imperialism from the Spanish American War to the "police action" in Vietnam.

As the U.S. gained international stature, the archetype of the frontier aristocrat articulated the goals and ideals of the American populace. But Slotkin shows how, as time progressed, the increasing irrelevance of the frontier myth on foreign soil foiled the prowess of the U.S. war machine. At the book's conclusion, in which images of the My Lai Massacre are juxtaposed against the final shootout of Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, the contradiction between faith and experience becomes painfully evident. Gunfighter Nation delivers the satisfaction of a historian with the acquired wisdom to address directly the issues that inspired his lifelong work. --John M. Anderson

About the Author

Richard Slotkin is Olin Professor of English and Director of American Studies at Wesleyan University. He is the author of Regeneration Through Violence: The Mythology of the American Frontier, 1600-1860 and Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of Frontier in Twentieth-Century America, published by the University of Oklahoma Press.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0806130318
Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Oklahoma Press; 21809th edition (April 15, 1998)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 864 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780806130316
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0806130316
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.67 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 1.7 x 9.21 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #413,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #472 in Film & Television
- #944 in Violence in Society (Books)
- #1,041 in Movie History & Criticism

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Stevie

and not write them off as films only older white conservatives can enjoy. I wasn't much of a fan of westerns ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2017

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I bought this for my Western Film course and it wasn't disappointing. There are quite a few valuable perspectives that really helped me think critically about western film, and not write them off as films only older white conservatives can enjoy. I wasn't much of a fan of westerns growing up, but reading this helped me appreciate them a lot more, and have the right language to describe what I liked or didn't like about them. This textbook also goes into depth on the history of the myth of the western frontier which is then brought up later when talking about other films, if not already assumed from the title. Excellent read!

9 people found this helpful

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Lonnie E. Underhill

but a brilliant piece of scholarship

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2015

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This volume is a huge work that is not only readable, but a brilliant piece of scholarship.

4 people found this helpful

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GLS MN COLD

Good read

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2017

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Interesting book. It was a gift, and the recipient liked it.

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Andi

Ma Loves This BOOK

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2014

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I get a history lesson every night after work since ma has been reading this. A bit on the scholastic side that she has to look up words...but all too involving and interesting!

2 people found this helpful

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Jeff Stensrud

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2017

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Amazoning!!!!

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Thomas White-Hassler

Explicates much of how we got to where we are

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2013

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While searching for resources to help me understand the roots of the high violence level, relevant to other developed countries, I came upon Slotkin's three volumes that provide significant insight into how we arrived where we are.

9 people found this helpful

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Michael J. Mann

Gunfighter Nation

Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2009

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This book is a must buy, for anyone interested in an well researched account of frontier myth's. Slotkin delivers a readable journey through the western mythology of the twentieth-century.

8 people found this helpful

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W. McKinley

vital perspectives, theories but also FACTS

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2008

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This and Slotkin's other volumes in this trilogy are, to me, exceptionally well-written, perceptive, and although long and complex, definitely worth studying if you are an open-hearted open-minded seeker. It is amazing, and sometimes depressing, to see how two people can read the same work and have totally opposite reactions. I was astonished to read one review which says this is a terrible, an awful, a bad book. It can only be terrible and bad if you are prejudicially predisposed to want to disagree with Slotkin's premises, but Slotkin does provide ample annotation and proof of facts he cites. We have all been lied to and we have all been victims of this all-too-human propensity to belief our own cartoon and movie mythic hero-characters. We are doing it all over again in Iraq, we have disastrous collective amnesia, and evidenced by candidate McCain in the Pres. debate proudly announcing his hero is Teddy Roosevelt, who, as Slotkin shows by direct quotes of TRW's writings, was a White supremacist, a racist, and an American Imperialist! This is not about liberal, or leftist, of conservative and rightist, it is about the truth beyond all false categories.

26 people found this helpful

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Belén

Libro estudio

Reviewed in Spain on November 17, 2016

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Recomendaría este producto, a estudiantes de filología inglesa o de historia americana. Es un libro muy interesante, pero con un vocabulario complejo, e infinita información técnica.

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A.Stedmann

Four Stars

Reviewed in Canada on March 9, 2016

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Some good ingformation provided

Dee Lorelei

a must-read book for film studies and cultural history

Reviewed in France on September 11, 2017

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a must-read book for film studies and cultural history, people interested in politics. Very good read in spite of the length!

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Gunfighter Nation: Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America, The 21809th Edition

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