From School Library Journal Grade 4-8?As a whole, this title misrepresents Western history and includes several politically correct biases and objectionable topics. It opens with a picture of three men in a shoot-out, and the emphasis throughout is on lawlessness and violence. The text is disjointed and confusing. The opening sentences of the double-page spreads often describe the evils of conquering invaders, be they Spanish Conquistadors or white settlers. Savagery took place, to be sure, but the book depicts such behavior as one-sided. No mention is ever made of Indian attacks on the settlers, and the deaths that resulted. The author seems to delight in the uncouthness of all residents of the old West. At one point he states that all cowboys headed to the saloon at trails end. All of them? The author also lacks balance when describing soldiers and fort life, emphasizing only the more horrid aspects of it. Not all soldiers were ill-equipped criminals and drunkards. This colorful book seems to be an attempt to inform at the basest levels of information and taste. It gives misinformation and misleading statements and omits so much of what is true that libraries would be wise to pass on it.?Carol Beall, Immanuel Christian School, Springfield, VACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal This audio adaptation of the television documentary of the same name is a valuable asset to the study of the West as it really was and is also a first-rate entertainment. Jack Lemmon is the chief reader, while other celebrities like Richard Thomas and Helen Hunt contribute. The readers render the actual words of people who lived in the Wild West. The authentic music and sound effects combine to bring history to life. A brochure enclosed in the packaging highlights the important events of the 19th century. Excellent as all this material is, there are problems: the tapes are not labeled, and the print in the brochure is extremely small. Recommended for popular history collections.
