The Great American West: Pursuing the American Dream. This item is unavailable.The Great American West: Pursuing the American Dream

Kenneth Rendell's fascination with the American West dates back to childhood in the late 1940s, when movies and radio—and, eventually, television—abounded with Western stories. “My vision of the West at that young age was highly romanticized,” he says, “but that image didn't last long.” He'd soon read enough history to realize that the West of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and Hopalong Cassidy was a fantasy world with no connection to reality except the scenery. “It wasn't this fantasy world that captured and held my attention,” says the award-winning author. “It was the beauty of the landscape and, most important, the dream of freedom and opportunity that inspired me with a sense of adventure not unlike the spirit of the first pioneers. I never longed to be a cowboy or a gunfighter, but I did yearn to escape from my neighborhood to the wide-open spaces of the West, where a man could be whatever he could do.” In The Great American West: Pursuing the American Dream, Rendell serves up a combination of the engaging text, dramatic imagery, and unique memorabilia that made his first Vault book, World War II: Saving the Reality, such a popular seller. Western artifacts and relics are tucked into envelopes and pockets within the slipcase-bound hardcover book. Letters from famous outlaws, old newspaper clippings, historical posters, and other rarities make the American West come alive—a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be shared with the whole family.