-This guide focuses on Western books and films, listing about 2,000 titles categorized by subgenre and theme, such as Native Americans, mountain men, exploration, the army, range and ranch life, sagas, Western mysteries, and Western romances. Mort, a reference librarian, also provides a brief history of the genre and a discussion of six writers: Zane Grey, Max Brand, Ernest Haycox, Louis L'Amour, Elmer Kelton, and Larry McMurtry. Book records list publishing information and setting, summarize the plot, and note appeal to women, young adults, and book clubs, and if books have Christian themes, are out of print, or have received awards. Movie entries list cast and crew, production information, setting, and star rating, and include a plot summary. Indexes are by author/title/subject, settings, and film. —Reference & Research Book News

-For anyone not familiar with the Western, Read the High Country is a treasure trove, informing not only about the genre in books and film but also about the history of the American West. In fact, Mort includes in the appendix a Western Time Line, from 28,000 BC to 1929 AD. One category in the Traditional Westerns section is The Business of the West, revealing the importance of buffalo, railways, and mining to the commercial health of the America West. And, given the importance of the Native American in this time and place, the book is a great source for titles involving First Nations....With a conversational tone, Mort wonderfully succeeeds in guiding the readers' advisor to a much greater knowledge and understanding of the Western book and film. This book is likely to attract an entirely new readership to the genre. —Reference & User Services Quarterly