Pulitzer-prize winning historian William H. Goetzmann (U. of Texas at Austin), with William N. Goetzmann (finance and management, Yale U.) present the second edition of this hefty overview of western American art that accompanied a public television series of the same name. The 41 chapters cover both popular and high art, giving attention to the West and Native American culture as it was imagined in the romantic paintings of Bierdstadt and Caitlin (among others), the cowboy lifestyle as both myth and perilous reality, the watercolors of Heinrich Balduin Möllhausen depicting landscapes in browns, photography of the postmodern West, the portrayal of the West in film, the prolific Native American portraiture of McKenney and Hall, and the strikingly distinct visions of artists from Native American and Hispanic artists, among many highlights. Text and illustrations are organized by theme. Eight chapters are new to this edition. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)