'This book analyzes the construction of the stories presented in spaghetti westerns. It examines the content of the Italian western using concepts and constructs borrowed from scholars studying pre-industrial narratives. Plot, the constellation of characters, their relationship to each other, and their motives are studied'--Provided by publisher.

An illustrated exploration of the mid-twentieth-century filmmaker's 'spaghetti westerns' considers his role in defining the genre, his visual style and elliptical storytelling methods, and his creation of such works as A Fistful of Dollars and Once Upon a Time in the West. 12,500 first printing.