The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West - Softcover

Limerick Ph.D., Patricia Nelson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393304973 ISBN 13: 9780393304978

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1987

Synopsis

"Limerick is one of the most engaging historians writing today." --Richard White

The "settling" of the American West has been perceived throughout the world as a series of quaint, violent, and romantic adventures. But in fact, Patricia Nelson Limerick argues, the West has a history grounded primarily in economic reality; in hardheaded questions of profit, loss, competition, and consolidation. Here she interprets the stories and the characters in a new way: the trappers, traders, Indians, farmers, oilmen, cowboys, and sheriffs of the Old West "meant business" in more ways than one, and their descendents mean business today. 28 illustrations

About this title

About the Author:

Patricia Nelson Limerick is a professor of history and chair of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

From Publishers Weekly:

The popular image of Western history is our own creation myth, writes the author, who teaches history at the University of Colorado. Frederick Jackson Turner's ethnocentric, nationalistic frontier is passe; modern historians have deemphasized the frontier, focusing on economics and the diversity of Western settlers. Limerick shows us a competitive, contentious West, an important meeting ground for Indians, Latin-Americans, Anglo- and Afro- Americans and Asians. On the subject of Western violence, she notes that the frontier environment is not a proper explanation for incidents involving Hispanics, Chinese, Japanese, blacks, Mormons, strikers and radicals. Limerick examines the key role of federal money in Western economya major issue of continuity in the area's history; she discusses "borderland" (Hispanic) history and immigration restrictions. History buffs will appreciate this dynamic perspective on the real, as opposed to fantasy, West. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0393304973
• ISBN 13: 9780393304978
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400