Synopses & Reviews
The Great Plains, known for grasslands that stretch to the horizon, is a difficult region to define. Some classify it as the region beginning in the east at the ninety-eighth or one-hundredth meridian. Others identify the eastern boundary with annual precipitation lines, soil composition, or length of the grass. In
The Big Empty, leading historian R. Douglas Hurt defines this region using the towns and cities—Denver, Lin-coln, and Fort Worth—that made a difference in the history of the environment, politics, and agriculture of the Great Plains.
Using the voices of women homesteaders, agrarian socialists, Jewish farmers, Mexican meatpackers, New Dealers, and Native Americans, this book creates a sweeping survey of contested race relations, radical politics, and agricultural prosperity and decline during the twentieth century. This narrative shows that even though Great Plains history is fraught with personal and group tensions, violence, and distress, the twentieth century also brought about compelling social, economic, and political change.
The only book of its kind, this account will be of interest to historians studying the region and to anyone inspired by the story of the men and women who found an opportunity for a better life in the Great Plains.
Review
"Anyone who wants to have a better understanding of the development of the American west in the twentieth century should read this book."—Canadian Journal of History
"This is an important book because it dares to take on--with much success--a topic, a region, and indeed a state of mind, none of which can be defined without considerable ambiguity or controversy. Hurt approaches the Great Plains primarily through social history, but also incorporates environmental, economic, and political history masterfully in this synthesis." --David Vaught, author of After the Gold Rush: Tarnished Dreams in the Sacramento Valley
Review
"Hurts new book presents a vast array of information about the 20th-century Great Plains and includes a wealth of notes to sources that will lead many readers into a rich literature and perhaps inspire more research and publishing about the Plains. The Big Empty will ultimately take its place alongside other classic works of history about the Great Plains, including James Malins The Grassland of North America, Walter Prescott Webbs The Great Plains and Everett Dicks The Sod House Frontier." -Prairie Fire
Synopsis
This narrative shows that even though Great Plains history is fraught with personal and group tensions, violence, and distress, the twentieth century also brought about compelling social, economic, and political change.
Synopsis
History of Nebraska was originally created to mark the territorial centennial of Nebraska and then revised to coincide with the statehood centennial. This one-volume history quickly became the standard text for the college student and reference for the general reader, unmatched for generations as the only comprehensive history of the state. This fourth edition, revised and updated, preserves the spirit and intelligence of the original. Incorporating the results of years of scholarship and research, this edition gives fuller attention to such topics as the Native American experience in Nebraska and the accomplishments and circumstances of the stateand#8217;s women and minorities. It also provides a historical analysis of the stateand#8217;s dramatic changes in the past two decades.
About the Author
Ronald C. Naugle is professor emeritus of history at Nebraska Wesleyan University. The author and editor of numerous books, he is coeditor of
Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers and the online edition of Encyclopedia Britannicaand#8217;s
Nebraska.
John J. Montag is professor emeritus of library and information technology at Nebraska Wesleyan University.
James C. Olson (1917and#8211;2005) was president emeritus of the University of Missouri. He is the author of several books, including Stuart Symington: A Life.