Description
Book SynopsisIn the years between 1940 and 2000, the American Far West went from being a relative backwater of the United States to a considerably more developed, modern, and prosperous region—one capable of influencing not just the nation but the world. By the dawn of the twenty-first century, the population of the West had multiplied more than four times since 1940, and western states had transitioned from rural to urban, becoming the most urbanized section of the country. Massive investment, both private and public, in the western economy had produced regional prosperity, and the tourism industry had undergone massive expansion, altering the ways Americans identified with the West.
In
The Mobilized American West, 1940–2000, John M. Findlay presents a historical overview of the American West in its decades of modern development. During the years of U.S. mobilization for World War II and the Cold War, the West remained a significant, distinct region even as its devel
Trade Review"Findlay's book offers social and grassroots political analyses missing from narrower postwar studies."—R. L. Dorman,
Choice“Writing a sweeping survey of a region as complex as the American West is a challenging task. Findlay has succeeded where few have before. His lively and eloquent narrative details the many types of mobilization that occurred in the last half of the twentieth century, illuminating how the region both carved a distinct path and aligned with the rest of the nation. In his gifted hands, a rich, nuanced portrait of a contested place and its diverse residents emerges. This book will reshape how generations of scholars make sense of the modern West.”—Connie Y. Chiang, author of
Nature behind Barbed Wire: An Environmental History of the Japanese American Incarceration“John Findlay has given us an elegant, clear-eyed survey of arguably the most transformative period in the history of the American West. For Findlay, American regionalism is a slippery but significant factor in the making of the nation. At once erudite and modest, sweeping and nuanced,
The Mobilized American West, 1940–2000 is history that matters. Findlay reminds us of the perpetual dance of ideas and actions, people and places, power and resistance, with lively examples of diverse Americans who have made their own histories, for better and worse.”—Virginia Scharff, distinguished professor of history emerita, University of New Mexico, and chair of western history, Autry Museum of the American West
“This is a bold, ambitious, smart, insightful, deeply researched, and fast-paced account of the West from 1940 to 2000. Essential reading for everyone interested in the modern West.”—David M. Wrobel, author of
America’s West: A History, 1890–1950Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Series Editor’s Introduction
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. A Mobilized Region: The American West during Wartime
2. Westerners: Regional Societies and Regional Identities
3. “A Little More Wide Open”: Social and Political Movements in the Western States
4. Seized by Initiative: Direct Democracy and Political Culture in the Far West
5. Armed Standoffs: The Politics of Federal Lands in the West
6. Region of the Imagination: The Mythic West and the Realistic West after 1940
Epilogue
Appendix: Western States Census Summaries, 1940–2000
Notes
Bibliography
Index
