The American West: A Very Short Introduction by Stephen Aron (English) Paperback

The Nile on eBay   FREE SHIPPING UK WIDE   The American West by Stephen Aron

Familiar figures -- missionaries, explorers, trappers, traders, prospectors, gunfighters, cowboys, and Indians -- appear in these pages. So do renowned individuals such as Daniel Boone, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and John Wayne. But their stories contribute to a history of the American West that is longer, larger, and more complicated than we were once told.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

Part geographical location, part time period, and part state of mind, the American West is a concept often invoked but rarely defined. Though popular culture has carved out a short and specific time and place for the region, author and longtime Californian Stephen Aron tracks "the West" from the building of the Cahokia Mounds around 900 AD to the post-World War II migration to California. His Very Short Introduction stretches the chronology, enlarges thegeography, and varies the casting, providing a history of the American West that is longer, larger, and more complicated than popular culture has previously suggested. It is a history of how portions of NorthAmerica became Wests, how parts of these became American, and how ultimately American Wests became the American West.Aron begins by describing the expansion of Indian North America in the centuries before and during its early encounters with Europeans. He then explores the origins of American westward expansion from the Seven Years' War to the 1830s, focusing on the western frontier at the time: the territory between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. Hetraces the narrative - temporally and geographically - through the discovery of gold in California in the mid-nineteenth century and the subsequent rush to the Pacific Slope. He shows how the passageof the Newlands Reclamation Act in 1902 brought an unprecedented level of federal control to the region, linking the West more closely to the rest of the United States, and how World War II brought a new rush of population (particularly to California), further raising the federal government's profile in the region and heightening the connections between the West and the wider world. Authoritative, lucid, and ranging widely over issues of environment, people, and identity,this is the American West stripped of its myths. The complex convergence of peoples, polities, and cultures that has decisively shaped the history of the American West serves as the key interpretivethread through this Very Short Introduction.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Notes

This overview outlines a much longer chronology of the American West than most conventional Western histories.

Author Biography

Stephen Aron is professor of history at UCLA and chair of the Institute for the Study of the American West at the Autry National Center. He is the author of How the West Was Lost: The Transformation of Kentucky from Daniel Boone to Henry Clay and American Confluence: The Missouri Frontier from Borderland to Border State, the co-author of Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the World from the Beginnings of Humankind to thePresent, and the co-editor of Trading Cultures: The Worlds of Western Merchants.

Table of Contents

List of illustrationsIntroductionChapter One: The View from CahokiaChapter Two: Empires and EnclavesChapter Three: Making the First American WestChapter Four: Taking the Farther WestChapter Five: The Whitening of the WestChapter Six: The Watering of the WestChapter Seven: The Worldly WestChapter Eight: The View from Mt. LeeReferencesFurther readingIndex

Promotional

A Very Short Introduction that significantly expands the boundaries and importance of the American West.

Long Description

Part geographical location, part time period, and part state of mind, the American West is a concept often invoked but rarely defined. Though popular culture has carved out a short and specific time and place for the region, author and longtime Californian Stephen Aron tracks "the West" from the building of the Cahokia Mounds around 900 AD to the post-World War II migration to California. His Very Short Introduction stretches the chronology, enlarges thegeography, and varies the casting, providing a history of the American West that is longer, larger, and more complicated than popular culture has previously suggested. It is a history of how portions of North America became Wests, how parts of these became American, and how ultimately American Wests became theAmerican West.Aron begins by describing the expansion of Indian North America in the centuries before and during its early encounters with Europeans. He then explores the origins of American westward expansion from the Seven Years' War to the 1830s, focusing on the western frontier at the time: the territory between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. He traces the narrative - temporally and geographically - through the discovery of gold in California inthe mid-nineteenth century and the subsequent rush to the Pacific Slope. He shows how the passage of the Newlands Reclamation Act in 1902 brought an unprecedented level of federal control to the region, linking the West more closely to the rest of the United States, and how World War II brought a newrush of population (particularly to California), further raising the federal government's profile in the region and heightening the connections between the West and the wider world. Authoritative, lucid, and ranging widely over issues of environment, people, and identity, this is the American West stripped of its myths. The complex convergence of peoples, polities, and cultures that has decisively shaped the history of the American West serves as the key interpretivethread through this Very Short Introduction.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expertauthors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Feature

Aron has appeared on a number of documentaries and television programs, including several episodes of

New Feature

List of illustrations Introduction Chapter One: The View from Cahokia Chapter Two: Empires and Enclaves Chapter Three: Making the First American West Chapter Four: Taking the Farther West Chapter Five: The Whitening of the West Chapter Six: The Watering of the West Chapter Seven: The Worldly West Chapter Eight: The View from Mt. Lee References Further reading Index

Details ISBN0199858934 Author Stephen Aron Pages 160 ISBN-10 0199858934 ISBN-13 9780199858934 Format Paperback Media Book Series Very Short Introductions Subtitle A Very Short Introduction DEWEY 978 Short Title AMER WEST A VERY SHORT INTRO Language English Position Professor of History and Vice Chair for Academic Personnel Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Affiliation Professor of History and Vice Chair for Academic Personnel, University of California, Los Angeles UK Release Date 2014-12-11 NZ Release Date 2014-12-11 US Release Date 2014-12-11 Illustrations 10 illustrations Publisher Oxford University Press Inc Year 2014 Publication Date 2014-12-11 Imprint Oxford University Press Inc Audience General AU Release Date 2015-12-20 We've got this

At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it.With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love!

30 DAY RETURN POLICY

No questions asked, 30 day returns!

FREE DELIVERY

No matter where you are in the UK, delivery is free.

SECURE PAYMENT

Peace of mind by paying through PayPal and eBay Buyer Protection TheNile_Item_ID:88747558;