The Complete Western Stories

In 1950, fresh out of college and keen to make his name as a writer, Elmore Leonard decided he needed to pick a market, a big one, which would give him a better chance to be published while he learned to write.

In choosing between crime and Westerns, the latter had an irresistible pull - Leonard loved movies set in the West.

As he researched deeper into settings, Arizona in the 1880s captured his imagination: the Spanish influence, the stand-offs and shoot-outs between Apache Indians and the US cavalry.