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The American West: History, Myth, and Legacy

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The American West: History, Myth, and Legacy

By: Patrick N. Allitt, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Patrick N. Allitt
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About this listen

Our understanding of the American West has moved far beyond pop culture in recent years. The legendary people and events we associate with the Wild West - the last stand at the Alamo, the Battle of Little Bighorn, the exploits of Calamity Jane, the hardships of the Oregon Trail - are even more fascinating once the historical realities have been separated from the myths.

Designed to shine a light on the American frontier, these 24 lectures are a way for you to experience the grit and grandeur of an epic period in American history. Professor Allitt uncovers new historical angles and perspectives about events and themes ranging from the Lewis and Clark expedition to the Indian Removal Act to the creation America's first national parks.

You'll cover more than 200 years of history and the most important events, themes, and ideas that form the backbone of the frontier's reality - and legend. Among these: the Transcontinental Railroad, the idea of Manifest Destiny, the Gold Rush, the Trail of Tears, and (yes) cowboys. You'll also learn how popular culture - novels like Little House on the Prairie, paintings by artists like Frederic Remington, and decades of Western films - can actually clue us in to the intimate details of life for everyday men and women.

Saddle up for an exciting adventure in learning.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2017 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2017 The Great Courses
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What listeners say about The American West: History, Myth, and Legacy

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Extremely high quality

One of the best lecturers. Well written, paced, contextualised. Engaging and entertaining. Well narrated too.

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Excellent.

This was awesome but I can’t get over how much the bloke sounds like Alan Partridge.

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1 person found this helpful

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Informative albeit rather brief

Very interesting lectures but they really could have been longer. There is so much more that could be said about the West.

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Quality information narrated by Alan Partridge

Quality information narrated by Alan Partridge lol, but seriously it's a fantastic course material

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Very good starting point

If you are looking for an introduction to the history of the West, this book has it all: politics, sociology, geography, and culture. The only two remarks I can make are:
1) there is not much space given to the famous outlaws of the West, even though there is a chapter dedicated to the subject of lawlessness.
2) the course does not cover the impact that the discovery of oil has had on the West. I guess because it falls outside its chronological signposts.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A fascinating history, beautifully told

The history of the American West is taught with wonderful richness in this audiobook. I enjoyed it from beginning to end and would highly recommended it to people with an interest in US history.

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interesting and relatively concise

an enjoyable and balanced look at the western expansion of the United States. it was interesting to see how beaver fur, gold rushes and railways were all key factors in the expansion and development of the west. it also doesn't shy away from some of the negatives such as the treatment of natives. the narration was lovely and engaging and fun to have the history of the American West narrated by an Englishman.

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Good lectures and easy to listen to

quite liked it and the narrator wasn't too difficult to listen to, but found I didn't really learn anything new, but that is my issue and if you're willing to learn about the American West then give it a listen.

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Highly absorbing and informative

This is an excellent piece of work. It is a little unusual to have this information delivered and explained by an academic from the North of England (!) but this does not detract from the quality of the experience. informative and highly recommended.

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Perfect introduction to the history of the West

I have come across the Professor before in the Great Courses history of the U.S. I appreciate his delivery style and the fact you are not bombarded with facts at a pace you can’t properly absorb.

The material is wide ranging and varied. It covers topics I had not previously associated with living in the West. Certainly some of it was myth busting. I would recommend this course as a good starting point for anyone interested in the history of the West. However I will continue to watch John Wayne films for pure enjoyment.

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