The Essential West: Collected Essays

Drawing from the past three centuries, West weaves the western story into that of the nation and the world beyond, from Kansas and Montana to Haiti, Africa, and the court of Louis XV.

Divided into three sections, the volume begins with conquest. West is not the first historian to write about Lewis and Clark, but he is the first to contrast their expedition with Mungo Park's contemporaneous journey in Africa. "The Lewis and Clark expedition," West begins, "is one of the most overrated events in American history--and one of the most revealing." The humor of this insightful essay is a chief characteristic of the whole book, which comprises ten chapters previously published in major journals and magazines--but revised for this edition--and four brand-new ones.

West is well known for his writings about frontier family life, especially the experiences of children at work and play. Fans of his earlier books on these subjects will not be disappointed. In a final section, he looks at the West of myth and imagination, in part to show that our fantasies about the West are worth studying precisely because they have been so at odds with the real West. In essays on buffalo, Jesse James and the McMurtry novel Lonesome Dove, West directs his formidable powers to subjects that continue to shape our understanding--and often our misunderstanding--of the American West, past and present.

Author: Elliott West
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Published: 08/30/2017
Pages: 328
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 8.80h x 6.00w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780806146539

About the Author
West, Elliott: - Elliott West, Alumni Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, is the award-winning author of numerous articles and books, including Growing Up with the Country: Childhood on the Far-Western Frontier; The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado; and The Last Indian War: The Nez Perce Story.White, Richard: -

Richard White, Margaret Byrne Professor of American History at Stanford University, is author of It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own: A New History of the American West and Remembering Ahanagran: Storytelling in a Family's Past.