This book is the most exciting and lavishly illustrated one-volume history of the West ever published. Its 384 pages sparkle with a lively text and almost 1,000 illustrations, including some of the first photographs ever taken of the West and its homesteaders. No other single book helps you to understand so well what life was really like for the westering pioneers. With the aid of 23 vivid reconstructions, prepared under the supervision of expert consultants, you can imagine yourself in a variety of frontier situations. Here, in one superb volume, is the story of America’s greatest adventure — the new country, the Indians, the people, the wars, the trails, and the great bonanzas of silver and gold. – Jacket flap.