Spaghetti Westerns: Cowboys and Europeans from Karl May to Sergio Leone (Cinema and Society)

good reading of the western era

Good analysis of western film production and political drama in post Fascist Italy in the mid sixties.

As the prior reviewer says this is "Spaghetti Western 101." It would be a good text for a film class focusing on the genre. It reviews the history of the western in Italy, the pertinent biographical information on the most prominent artists, and gives an overview of the artistic and thematic concerns of the films. It's great for its analysis of Sergio Leone's work, and analysis of his ouevre in comparison to the westerns that had come before and those that would follow. It's limited number of color pictures, and its scholarly focus seem to make it less than ideal as a reference for the casual fan.

This is Frayling's subject, and he articulates the tastes and insights of the Spaghetti Western fan.

the price and service were great

Thanks a lot!👍

This is a great book by Christopher Frayling.I am a huge fan of Sergio Leone, though I don't know all that much about non-Leone spaghetti westerns, so I really read the chapters that focus on Leone but not all the other chapters.But this is a very interesting book for me. There's an in-depth discussion of Leone's films, as well as other spags, and Frayling places these films in context of the Italian film industry at the time.At some points, in analyzing the films, Frayling gets into very technical language that a non-scholar like me may find to at times be not the easiest read. But still, this is a very interesting book. I highly recommend it for any fan of spaghetti Westerns and/or Sergio Leone.

I sold this book half finished. Very dry read, fails to bring this exciting subject to life.

It's Sir Chris Frayling, so it goes without saying it's the origina and perhaps definitive work on the subject matter. But the copy shipped is not that advertised, but black and white printing with a plain cover. I wouldn't mind a simple academic version per se, but text and photo quality is pretty poor.

The jacket is plain dark blue and not as shown. Also all the photographs are faded black and white. I am really disappointed as this was to be a Christmas present for my Grandson and as of now he will not be getting anything.I have complained to Amazon once already, the replacement arrived today, with the same faulty errors. Also the first faulty copy has not yet been collected.

Received book is not as pictured ..... Very poorly illustraded like photocopy or ink printing, very dissapointed , do not buy this , you waste your money .....

a superb book combined with excellent customer service

Mr Faryling treats us to many insights into the genre of the Spaghetti Western. It reads like a trip through the history of the spaghetti western with plenty of info on Sergio Leone and his movies. Must have for fans.