An introductory survey of the important debates about key issues in the cultural history of the contemporary American West. Neil Campbell introduces the ways in which the West has been represented and interpreted within American culture, myth and ideology, especially questioning the concept of the 'New West'. In so doing he looks at the way contemporary theories such as feminism, multiculturalism and environmentalism can be used to revise long-held notions of the West. The book looks in turn at the ways the West has been represented in landscapes and environments, art and photography, film, and literature* Introduces theoretical ideas from Bakhtin, Benjamin, Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari* Looks at the landscape photography of Ansel Adams, Mark Klett and Richard Misrach* Explores Westerns including The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Lonely are the Brave, Unforgiven and Heaven's Gate* Analyses the work of authors such as Cormac McCarthy, Edward Abbey, Terry Tempest Williams, Raymond Chandler* Inclu