From Shane to Kill Bill: Rethinking the Western is an original and compelling critical history of the American Western film. This book: provides an insightful overview of the American Western genre; covers the entire history of the Western, from 1939 to the present; analyzes Westerns as products of a genre, as well as expressions of political and social desires; deepens an audience’s understanding of the genre’s most important works, including Shane , Stagecoach , The Searchers , Unforgiven , and Kill Bill ; and, contains numerous illustrations of the films and issues discussed.