Legacy of Conquest The Unbroken Past of the American West

Summary: "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 s...tories 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. [read more]