Description
Book SynopsisOffers the most comprehensive history of the Hawkeye State ever written, surveying Iowa from the last ice age through the COVID-19 pandemic. The book tells a new and vibrant story, examining the state’s small-town culture, politics, social and economic development, and its many diverse inhabitants.
Trade ReviewJeff Bremer’s new history of Iowa captures the many facets of the state: its diversity, complexity, and changeability. It is the story of both elites and ordinary folks of many backgrounds. It takes a hard look at the myths that both the nation and that Iowans tell about place. The breadth and scope of this work make it a welcome addition to the growing literature that chronicles the state and the region." - Pamela Riney-Kehrberg, distinguished professor of history at Iowa State University and author of
When a Dream Dies: Agriculture, Iowa, and the Farm Crisis of the 1980s"Iowa is the heart of the American heartland, the beating center of the Midwest, and it has been far too long since Iowa’s history has been given a comprehensive treatment. Bravo to Jeff Bremer, who brings decades of expertise to the task, succeeding brilliantly, and puts Iowa back on the national map. For anyone curious about the history of the forgotten center of the nation, this is a must-read." - Jon K. Lauck, founding president of the Midwestern History Association, editor-in-chief of the Middle West Review, and adjunct professor of political science at the University of South Dakota, and author of The Conservative Heartland: A Political History of the Postwar American Midwest and The Good Country
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Part I—Iowa to the Civil War
- 1. Native Iowa: Iowa to 1833
- 2. Iowa Territory, 1833–1846
- 3. Frontier Iowa, 1833–1870
- 4. Slavery, Politics, and Transportation before the Civil War
- 5. Iowa and the Civil War, 1861–1870
- Part II—Iowa from the Civil War to 1929
- 6. Immigrants, Railroads, and Farm Protest
- 7. Religion, Education, and Rural Life
- 8. Cities, Industry, and Technology, 1833–1920
- 9. Suffrage, Prohibition, and Politics, 1870–1920
- 10. Iowa in World War I and the 1920s
- Part III—Iowa since 1929
- 11. the Great Depression and Iowa
- 12. Iowa in World War II
- 13. Postwar Iowa, 1945–1975
- 14. Iowa and the Farm Crisis, 1975–2000
- 15 Iowa in the Twenty-First Century
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Bibliographic Essay
- Index
