Western Lives - by Richard W Etulain (Paperback)

About the Book

The life stories of many individuals are woven together to tell the history of the American West from the earliest days of westward expansion to the twentieth century.

Book Synopsis

The history of the American West is full of intriguing life stories, and the fifteen essays in this collection weave a selection of those lives together to focus on the main currents in the region's history. The first five essays cover the period from contact to the mid-nineteenth century and feature Indian leaders and Spanish colonizers, characters from the Mexican period, explorers, mountain men, and missionaries. Familiar names in this portion are Juan Bautista de Anza, Stephen F. Austin, Doña Tules, Lewis and Clark, Jedediah Smith, and Narcissa Whitman.

The second group of essays reflects on Mormons, miners, California Hispanics, American Indians, ranchers, farmers, and the Wild West of Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley. The essays on the twentieth-century West examine the careers of James J. Hill, John Muir, Jeannette Rankin, Aimee Semple McPherson, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Walt Disney, César Chávez, Barbara Jordan, Microsoft's Paul Allen, and the mythical figure of Rosie the Riveter.

Review Quotes

"["Western Lives"] is truly useful as a basic history and reference tool. It is a book you will enjoy reading."

." . well-written essays on the lives of other people."

""Western Lives" is an excellent resource book. . This book would benefit any upper-level or graduate class on the American West, and should be enjoyed by anyone interested in the history of the region."

"Ý"Western Lives"¨ is truly useful as a basic history and reference tool. It is a book you will enjoy reading."

"Accurate and easy to read, "Western Lives" is intended as a text for students and general readers and serves that purpose admirably. . . The book has a consistently high level of scholarship and writing clarity for a work with multiple authors."

"Noted scholar and engaging author of western US history Etulain has produced yet another exceptional, thought-provoking study. . . A book that historians, western historians, biographers, and, perhaps even more importantly, students, will find not just engaging, but also valuable for their own research and study. . . Essential."

"Richard Etulain continues to be a force in the historiography of the American West. . .Etulain has assembled 15 lively, well-written, and amply illustrated essays in a roughly chronological order to tell the story of the American West. . . A solid contribution to the field."

"This book will be of interest to all for whom the West is not an interest but a passion."

"This is a thorough book that makes a significant contribution to understanding the history and dynamics of the American West."

"This volume is a masterpiece of good factual info, fascinating biographies and good writing. The contributing scholars have taught the reader a new way to grasp the totality of the Western experience."