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.