If one knew nothing about John Wayne's early films, this might be an interesting basic primer. But one would not learn much of interest that would not be as easily and more entertainingly gained from watching the movies described herein. And "described" is the word. The vast majority of this book consists of often excruciatingly detailed synopses of the plots, followed by "review" comments from other writers, many of them non-authoritative fans who happened to make comments on IMDb (and the authors refer to these fan comments using only the writer's last name, as if it were a name we should already know). There are a couple of handfuls of mildly interesting information about the films (release dates, working titles, and continuity errors, all of which are also available on IMDb), and where Powell and Amsbary are at their best is in evaluating how Wayne is seen by his fans and the world at large, which he does near the end of the book. But the excessive detail in plot synopsis of each film (as though many of these B-Westerns weren't so similar in structure as to be almost indistinguishable [and I like them!]), the errors of spelling and fact scattered throughout, and a tendency to repeat information every few pages almost verbatim, led me to be disappointed in this book. My own first published work was on Wayne's career, and I've read most, if not all, the meaningful books on that career. If you're just starting out watching Wayne's movies (and there are scores more worthy than the B-Westerns listed here), this could be enjoyable. I'd wait, though, for James Neibaur's upcoming book on the same B-Westerns. Neibaur is a remarkable writer and film scholar, and if there's anything worth evaluating in these pictures other than their general entertainment value, he will provide a useful guide to it. Powell and Amsbary's book is, aside from the errors and repetition, not bad. It's just not that interesting. ( )