The American West - A Concise History

Butler (history, Utah State U.) and Lansing (history, Augsberg College) provide a concise history of the American West, meant to complement the US history curriculum, with an aim to describe the "multi-cultural, multi-structured, and multi-contradictory elements in regional life," along with the societal factors of race, gender, and corporate capital. Covering the pre-colonial era to the present day, they draw on current scholarship and connect the volume to the inclination of the US government to extend its reach through territorial expansion, as well as emphasize the West as part of the fabric of the nation. They address five themes: the convergence of cultures that led people to compete for power and agency; the role of the West as a center for emerging capitalism; the place of the federal government as an overseer of expansion and resources; the importance of violence in the West's history; and attachments to a mythic idea of the region. Sources for the book include public records, newspapers, and secondary literature. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Anne M. Butler is Trustee Professor, Emeritus, at Utah State University and a past editor of the Western Historical Quarterly. Author of numerous articles and books, including Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Misery: Prostitutes in the American West (1985), she has published extensively on matters of race, class, and gender in western history.

Michael J. Lansing is Assistant Professor of History at Augsburg College. His essays have appeared in the Western Historical Quarterly, Utah Historical Quarterly, Journal of Historical Geography, and Ethics, Place, and Environment. He serves on the editorial board of the University of Arizona Press monograph series “Western Women’s Voices.”