The Federal Landscape: An Economic History of the Twentieth-Century West

The vastness of the American West is apparent to anyone who travels through it, but what may not be immediately obvious is the extent to which the landscape has been shaped by the U.S. government. Water development projects, military bases, and Indian reservations may interrupt the wilderness vistas, but these are only an indication of the extent to which the West has become a federal landscape. Historian Gerald Nash has written the first account of the epic growth of the economy of the American West during the twentieth century, showing how national interests shaped the West over the course of the past hundred years and how America's hinterland became the most dynamic and rapidly growing part of the country. By addressing subjects as diverse as public policy, economic development, enviromental and urban issues, and questions of race, class, and gender, he puts the entire federal landscape in perspective and shows how th West was really won. --- from book's back cover