Wallmann's sweep through the western is a careful, incisive, and blessedly non-theoretical examination of the implications of the western from the beginning to the present, taking the reader deep into the heart of the subject and offering original and perceptive theories of how the western reflects the evolution of America."--BOOK JACKET.

With their rakish characters, sensationalist plots, improbable adventures and objectionable language (like swell and golly), dime novels in their heyday were widely considered a threat to the morals of impressionable youth. Roundly criticized by church leaders and educators of the time, these short, quick-moving, pocket-sized publications were also, inevitably, wildly popular with readers of all ages. This work looks at the evolution of the dime novel and at the authors, publishers, illustrators, and subject matter of the genre. Also discussed are related types of children's literature, such as story papers, chapbooks, broadsides, serial books, pulp magazines, comic books and today's paperback books. The author shows how these works reveal much about early American life and thought and how they reflect cultural nationalism through their ideological teachings in personal morality and ethics, humanitarian reform and political thought. Overall, this book is a thoughtful consideration of the dime novel's contribution to the genre of children's literature. Eight appendices provide a wealth of information, offering an annotated bibliography of dime novels and listing series books, story paper periodicals, characters, authors and their pseudonyms, and more. A reference section, index and illustrations are all included.

Traces the development of the western dime novel form from its source in early nineteenth-century fiction through to its full manifestation in the late 1800s. Daryl Jones focuses on the development of character types (backwoodsman, plainsman, outlaw, and cowboy), the settings, the structures, and the plots of this form.

The Beadle Collection of Dime Novels is a huge listing of which books fell into the "dime novel" category. One finds names and authors and data about publication, all neatly classified for anyone who wishes to find any favorite book.

Reading Their World, 2/e and its companion CD-ROM provide the most extensive examination of young adult literature available today.