Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West by H.W. Brands

History with the sweep and character of a John Wayne epic reckons with the West at its wildest.

Written by Jenn Thornton

The latest work from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian H.W. Brands reads like a novel, chiefly because you can’t make this stuff up. In Brands’ hands, the settling of the American West is often a brutal, bloody business—enough to test even the Duke on his best day. Saddle in for a real ride, because this one goes from a fur trading operation in Oregon to the Texas Revolution, from the California Gold Rush to the Oklahoma land rush. The result is a panoramic effort, where acts of violence take their place alongside the only attributes rewarded in an unregulated world—perseverance and courage.

Buy now on Amazon. Proceeds benefit the John Wayne Cancer Foundation.