Karl May's German-language novel of the American West has been a perennial favorite in Europe since it first appeared in 1892. The daring adventures of the German-born frontiersman "Old Shatterhand" and his Apache companion "Winnetou" in the western plains and mountains have been reprinted innumerable times, made into films and plays, and have inspired musical compositions. Today in Germany, Old West enthusiasts by the tens of thousands attend an outdoor "Karl May" festival each summer. Yet, despite May's immense popularity in Europe, this prolific author of adventure fiction is virtually unknown in the United States and Canada.<BR>May's writing shaped a European vision of the post-Civil War American West - one uniquely Teutonized by his prolific pen. Interestingly enough, May did not visit the United States until late in life, long after his most popular western stories were published.<BR>In this WSU Press edition, David Koblick's translation and abridgment puts the best known novel by Karl May into the hands of an English speaking audience. In addition, an introduction by Koblick and an insightful foreword by Richard H. Cracroft of Brigham Young University provide a cultural and historical perspective on the Karl May phenomenon.