David H. Murdoch argues that Americans' beliefs about the West have little to do with history and amount to a modern functional myth.
David H. Murdoch (1937-2016) was Principal Teaching Fellow in the School of History at the University of Leeds. Educated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and Liverpool University, Dr. Murdoch wrote widely on American History and became a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1980. Among his most popular books are "North American Indian", "Cowboy", and "The American West: the Invention of a Myth".
