John Ford's Stagecoach, starring John Wayne in the part that made him a star, remains the most famous Western ever made. Shedding new light on an old favourite, this is an enjoyable account of how the film got made, combined with a careful scene-by-scene analysis, a wealth of illustrations and the most complete credits yet assembled.

Edward Buscombe is the editor of The BFI Companion to the Western (1988) and has written volumes on The Searchers (2000) and Unforgiven (2004) for the BFI Film Classics series. He is the author of Cinema Today (2003).