Before the West Was West: Critical Essays on Pre-1800 Literature of the American Frontiers - Hardcoverby Amy T. Hamilton (Editor), Tom J. Hillard (Editor), Michael P. Branch (Foreword by) Before the West Was West examines the extent to which scholars have engaged in depth with pre 1800 "western" texts and asks what we mean by "western" American literature in the first place and when that designation originated. Calling into question the implicit temporal boundaries of the "American West" in literature, a literature often viewed as having commenced