Shaped by the West, Volume 2

"William Deverell and Anne Hyde have a keen eye for evocative documents, and their introductions to both chapters and individual primary sources in these volumes are superb. There is simply no other document reader like Shaped by the West. It is an essential learning tool in courses that teach not only the content of western history but also the methods and practices of History as a discipline. I will assign these books as long as they remain in print. If and when they go out of print, I will have to retire."—Susan Lee Johnson, Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“These wonderful volumes provide western voices for conversations of national importance in every era, from the origin stories of Native nations, through the arrival of European colonizers and the independence and growth of the United States, and up to the contemporary debates over civil rights, immigration restriction, and water conservation. Provocative primary sources are introduced with expert framing, matching nicely with what is traditionally covered in the chapters of a U.S. survey textbook. As history is increasingly globalized, this wider perspective on U.S. history is more attractive than ever.”—Adam Arenson, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Urban Studies Program, Manhattan College

"With a wide net and razor-sharp eyes, Hyde and Deverell gather together a terrific body of documents to help students grapple with the extraordinary complexity of Western history and with the joys of primary sources. Rather than one West, the documents reveal many Wests, always changing, always struggling over resources, always home to extraordinary and diverse cultures."—Gregory Downs, Professor of History, University of California, Davis