American West : A New Interpretive History - 00 edition

''In their superbly written work, [Hine and Faragher] have synthesized the traditional and revisionist approaches to the West. . . . They describe with insight and compassion the variety of peoples who inhabited these regions; the inevitable conflict with settlers and a government that wavered between contempt and misguided compassion is shown as both tragic and, occasionally, oddly heroic. They have done a masterful job of bringing a sense of fairness and perspective to a region and a saga that remain part of our national mythology.''

--Booklist

''[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

''Hine and Faragher present a panorama of decisive events and culture clashes in western history. . . . An immense regional history that takes the time for a representative sample of the millions of smaller stories behind the building of a great nation.''

--Kirkus Reviews

''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)

''Don' t be put off by the book' s girth or by the university press imprint. This scholarly tome contains plenty of anecdotes, illustrations and cultural asides to engage even the most casual reader. It should further enhance the legendary ethos of a geographic region that needs little embellishment.''

--Alan Miller, Detroit News

''For an illustration of what' s happened in the past generation, one probably can' t do better than Robert V. Hine and John Mack Faragher' s The American West: A New Interpretive History.''

--Peter Schrag, American Prospect

''Hine and Faragher deserve kudos for this revised edition of their book The American West. It is well written, amply illustrated, and liberally sprinkled with thought-provoking quotations from historians as well as from men and women who made the west. . . . [A] highly readable and informative book. It should please western aficionados and prove useful to undergraduate courses in western history.''

--Choice

It is the authors' attention to the people who shaped the historical experience--not the leaders, but the everyday Americans--that sets this book apart. . . . [Hine and Faragher] incorporate overlooked voices into this sweeping history--female park rangers, Chinese railroad workers and even Juan Cortina, known as the Tejano Robin Hood, who operated in the Rio Grande Valley before the Civil War.''

--Russell Gold, San Antonio Express-News

''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

''A fine combination of the new and old, interpretation and personalization, and stylistic readability. . . . [A] major work.''

--Robert M. Utley, Austin American-Statesman

Yale University Press Web Site, December, 2000