Spaghetti Western Essential Library

“Il était une fois… le western européen”
1st edition 2002, revised edition 2008
Author: Jean-Francoise Giré’s
Publisher: bazaar&co (Paris)
1st edition 150 Euros,
2nd edition 71,25€ [Euros]
Pages: 586, black & white, color
Posters, photos, lobby cards

2 editions of this book have been published. The first in 2002 was limited to 2000 copies and was quickly sold out. A revised edition with additional titles, information and corrections was published and released in 2008. Along with Ulrich Bruckner’s book “Fur ein paar Leichen mehr” which we have already covered, are the two bibles of the European western genre. As in the case of Ulrich’s book it is not available in English. Jean-Francoise Giré’s book is available only in French. For coverage of the films this is not a problem but for the articles he presents and his summary of each year’s films unless you speak French most English only readers will be lost.

This book covers European Westerns from silent films to 2007, porn films, to American westerns filmed in Europe. It gives limited information on cast and crew and story synopsis. That is one of the only problems I have with his coverage as you will see (…) after cast lists which means there are more, but he’s decided to stop there. This becomes very frustrating when this is sometimes the only book you’ve ever seen the title in question presented. The book is beautifully done and presented in glossy print. You’ll find many a film you’ve never heard of before in the early films list. The cost is expensive for us Gringo’s when you end up paying as much or more for postage plus exchange rates and middle man costs as the cost of the book. Hopefully you can find a used copy or a bargain discount on-line book store selling it. It would be more than worth your time to find a copy.