The American West

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The American West

A Modern History, 1900 to the Present

Second Edition

Richard W. Etulain and Michael P. Malone
Preface and new chapter by Richard W. Etulain

360 pages
2 maps, 47 photographs, 7 tables

Paperback

November 2007

978-0-8032-6022-1

$29.95 Add to Cart
about author bio praise table of contents media awards

About the Book

The American West is the only book-length historical overview of the post-1900 American West. This balanced, comprehensive account of the modern West skillfully delineates the changes and resulting complexities that characterize the twentieth-century West. The authors consider the ways in which urban, service, and computer-related industries have replaced rural, extractive, and agricultural economies. They also trace the steps by which western politics shifted from New Deal principles to more conservative, Republican policies.
 
The book examines the roles of racial and ethnic groups in the recent West, emphasizing the challenges facing Native Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and African Americans in the region. Other chapters discuss western women, families, and urban developments. Thorough coverage of cultural topics—literature, art, films, religion, and education—includes lively descriptions of important individuals and memorable events.
 
This Bison Books edition, which features a new chapter covering the mid-1980s to 2005 and bibliographic essays on books about the modern American West, offers the most up-to-date discussion of the contemporary American West available.

Author Bio

Richard W. Etulain is a professor emeritus of history at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. He is the author or editor of more than forty books, including Re-imagining the Modern American West: A Century of Fiction, History, and Art and Beyond the Missouri: The Story of the American West. Michael P. Malone (1940–99) was president of Montana State University and the author of many books, including James J. Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest.

Praise

“A fair and far-reaching synthesis. It is clearly the best single volume available on its subject. Malone and Etulain treat difficult topics in even-handed and often insightful fashion.”—Peter Iverson, Great Plains Quarterly

“With the publication of this book, a major gap in western history has been filled by two premier historians in the field.”—Raymond Wilson, North Dakota History: Journal of the Northern Plains

"Here is the up-to-date West, its economy, its varying social patterns, its culture, its politics, and a geographic matrix, with explanations that helps us know and appreciate who and what we are and maybe a bit as to where and why we may be going."—Glenn M. Busset, Manhattan Mercury (Kansas)

“The American West is an outstanding book combining may key issues to create a fruitful history of the region since 1900. Etulain and Malone treat all subregions fairly. As they remind us, the West is still here and it will continue to play a prominent role in the future of the United States and even the world.”—Raymond D. Screws, Nebraska History

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
CHAPTER 1 - The Emerging Postfrontier Economy, 1900-1930
CHAPTER 2 - Politics of the Postfrontier Era, 1900-1930
CHAPTER 3 - Depression, New Deal, and War, 1930-1945
CHAPTER 4 - Social Patterns in the Modern West
CHAPTER 5 - Culture in the Modern West
CHAPTER 6 - The Modern Western Economy
CHAPTER 7 - Politics of the Modern Era, 1945-1987
CHAPTER 8 - A New Western Generation, Mid-1980s to 2005
Bibliographical Essays
Index

Also of Interest

Encyclopedia of the Great Plains

Edited by David J. Wishart

Wyoming

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Nebraska

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New introduction by Alan Boye

Nebraska Moments

Donald R. Hickey, Susan A. Wunder, and John R. Wunder