Born in the Country : A History of Rural America

Born in the Country was the first—and is still the only—general history of rural America published. Ranging from pre-Columbian times to the enormous changes of the twentieth century, Born in the Country masterfully integrates agricultural, technological, and economic themes with new questions social historians have raised about the American experience—including the different experiences of whites and blacks, men and women, natives and new immigrants.

In this second edition, David B. Danbom expands and deepens his coverage of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, focusing on the changes in agriculture and rural life since 1945. He discusses the alarming decline of agriculture as a productive enterprise and the parallel disintegration of farm families into demographic insignificance. In a new and provocative afterword, Danbom reflects on whether a distinctive style of rural life exists any longer.

Combining mastery of existing scholarship with a fresh approach to new material, Born in the Country continues to define the field of American rural history.

David B. Danbom is a professor of history at North Dakota State University, Fargo. His books include The Resisted Revolution: Urban America and the Industrialization of Agriculture, 1900–1930.