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Article: Paul Reddin, Wild West Shows.(Book review)
- Article from:
- Nineteenth-Century Prose
- Article date:
- March 22, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Nineteenth-Century Prose. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Paul Reddin, Wild West Shows (U of Illinois P, 1999), xvi + 312 pp., notes, bibliography, illustrations, index; $49.95 cloth; $21.95 paper.
Wild west shows endured from roughly 1830 to 1930. This unique American form of entertaimnent sensationalized the West and created myths that still fuel a West-as-frontier image. It is not surprising, therefore, that historians have frequently returned to the genre and its rich cast of characters as one means of interpreting the West in both fact and fiction. Paul Reddin's Wild West Shows makes its primary contribution to the literature by surveying this genre over time--from George Catlin's lyceum to Buffalo Bill's ...