The American West: A New Interpretive History

The American West: A New Interpretive History

by RVHine (Author)

Synopsis

Two eminent historians, Robert V. Hine and John Mack Faragher, present the American West as both frontier and region, real and imagined, old and new, and they show how men and women of all ethnic groups were affected when different cultures met and clashed. Their concise and engaging survey of frontier history traces the story from the first Columbian contacts between Indians and Europeans to the multicultural encounters of the modern Southwest.

The book attunes us to the voices of the frontier's many diverse peoples: Indians, struggling to defend their homelands and searching for a way to live with colonialism; the men and women who became immigrants and colonists from all over the world; African Americans, both slave and free; and borderland migrants from Mexico, Canada, and Asian lands. Profusely illustrated with contemporary drawings, posters, and photographs and written in lively and accessible prose, the book not only presents a panoramic view of historical events and characters but also provides fascinating details about such topics as western landscapes, environmental movements, literature, visual arts, and film.

Following in the tradition of Hine's earlier acclaimed work, The American West: An Interpretive History, this volume will be an essential resource for scholars, students, and general readers.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 632
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 01 Mar 2000

ISBN 10: 0300078358
ISBN 13: 9780300078350

Media Reviews

The book is elegantly written, brims with telling details and choice anecdotes, and is simply illustrated with a fine selection of images. Taken as a whole, Hine and Faragher succeed admirably in providing a unified interpretation of Western American history that recognizes the need to acknowledge and ameliorate legacies of conquest in the West, while looking optimistically towards the future. -Martin Padgett, Times Literary Supplement


[Hine and Faragher] have come out with a new edition of Hine's very well received The American West; An Interpretive History. The text is a survey of the American West or frontier, broadly defined and examined from many levels. . . . This work will be widely used in classes on the American frontier and West and is highly recommended for academic and public libraries. -Library Journal


In a stirring and enlightening reexamination of the American West, [Hine and Faragher] gauge the impact of key trends and events-the American Revolution, the multiethnic Gold Rush, the 1867 purchase of Russian America, the U.S.-Mexican War, the New Deal, etc. -in shaping the West's socioeconomic development. The American West of legend, brimming with ruggedly individualistic cowboys, intrepid pioneers and gunslingers, scarcely exists in this myth-shattering history. The real West was and continues to be a land of immigrants and of conflicting and melding cultures. . . . A substantial revision and update of standard history, this gripping, wonderfully accessible populist saga deserves a place on the shelf alongside the works of Howard Zinn, William Appleman Williams, and Ronald Takaki. -Publishers Weekly (A Starred Review)


Winner of the 2000 Western Heritage Award in the non-fiction category
Winner of the 2001 Caughey Western History Association Prize

-A strong, readable, and wide-ranging book. -Elizabeth Jameson, University of New Mexico


The authors have a superb eye for telling details and quotations. Much has been done to incorporate a multi-angled perspective and bring in material on women's, ethnic, and environmental history. This is a very fine book. -Elliott West, University of Arkansas


Author Bio
Robert V. Hine is professor emeritus of history at the University of California, Riverside and Irvine. John Mack Faragher, Arthur Unobskey Professor of American History at Yale University, is author of Sugar Creek: Life on the Illinois Prairie and Women and Men on the Overland Trail.