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

by Richard Slotkin (Author)

12 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.

Paperback: 864 pages
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press; 21809th edition (April 15, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780806130316
ISBN-13: 978-0806130316
ASIN: 0806130318
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.7 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 12 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #631,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1238 in Violence in Society (Books)
- #791 in Film & Television
- #1794 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 ...

December 30, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

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!

6 people found this helpful

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GLS MN COLD

Good read

April 25, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

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

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Lonnie E. Underhill

but a brilliant piece of scholarship

March 18, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

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

2 people found this helpful

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Andi

Ma Loves This BOOK

January 19, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

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!

One person found this helpful

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Thomas White-Hassler

Explicates much of how we got to where we are

May 29, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

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.

8 people found this helpful

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Jeff Stensrud

Five Stars

September 28, 2017

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Amazoning!!!!

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Michael J. Mann

Gunfighter Nation

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.

7 people found this helpful

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