This accessible text provides a comprehensive narrative and interpretative account of the entire history of the Communist International, 1919-1943. By incorporating the most recent Western and Soviet research the authors explain the legendary complexities of Comintern history and chart its degeneration from a revolutionary internationalist organisation into an obedient instrument of Soviet foreign policy. Key themes include: continuities and discontinuities between the Leninist and Stalinist phases, Bolshevisation versus national traditions, and the role of leading individuals in the...

The healing arts as practiced in the Old West often meant the difference between life and death for American pioneers. Whether the challenge was sickness, an Indian arrow, a gunshot wound, or a fall from a horse, a pioneer in the western territories required care for medical emergencies, but often had to make do until a doctor could be found. This historical overview addresses the perils to health that were present during the expansion of the American frontier, and the methods used by doctors to treat and overcome them. Numerous black and white photographs are provided, as well as a glossary...

Miners, loggers, railroad men, and others flooded into the American West after the discovery of gold in 1848, and entertainers seeking to fill the demand for distraction from the workers' daily toil soon followed. Actors, actresses and traveling troupes crisscrossed the American frontier, performing in tents, saloons, fancy theaters, and the open air. This exploration of the heyday of popular theater in the Old West chronicles its emergence and growth from 1850 to the early twentieth century. Here is the story of the men and women who provided myriad types of entertainment in the Old West,...

This book compares the reality of the Old West to how it is portrayed in the escapist entertainment of Western movies: It has the perspective of history rather than traditional analysis or critical commentary. Starting with the early 1900s Western movies, the narrative follows the evolution in look, style, and content as the films matured from short vignettes of good-versus-bad into the modern plots. The book compares the reality of the cowboys, Indians, gunmen, lawmen, and soldiers who peopled the Old West to how they are portrayed (real and fictional) on the silver screen.

This book explores the role and influence of drink and drugs (primarily opium) in the Old West, which for this book is considered to be America west of the Mississippi from the California gold rush of the 1840s to the closing of the Western Frontier in roughly 1900. This period was the first time in American history that heavy drinking and drug abuse became a major social concern.

This book describes the evolution of the Western cowboy hero as a mythic person created and propagated by dime novels, pulp fiction, television and Hollywood movies. The expectations and demands of readers, viewers, and movie makers have all influenced the public perception of the Western hero. As a result, business interests have commercialized the Western past as publishers and studios have tried to make their image of the West be the most compelling to ensure the largest audience. Because many of our contemporary perceptions of the Western hero have come to us from Hollywood, much of the...

The traditional narrative of the American West tells of a frontier settled by pioneers emigrating from the east to the Pacific coast. Yet Spanish conquistadors arrived in Central America 150 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. With them came missionaries who tried to convert the Pueblo and Plains Indians to Christianity by force, a suppression of native religious beliefs that led to cultural clashes and outright war. This is the story--fully documented--of how Spanish explorers, soldiers and men of the church pushed north from Mexico in the 1500s, seeking riches and...