Search -
Eyewitness to the American West: From the Aztec Empire to the Digital Frontier in the Words of Those Who Saw it Happen
Eyewitness to the American West From the Aztec Empire to the Digital Frontier in the Words of Those Who Saw it Happen Author:David Colbert A multifaceted marriage of entertaining historical fact with lively commentary earned David Colbert's Eyewitness to America raves from Parade to The Economist, and from Charles Kuralt as "the best Americana collection on my shelf." Now this exhilarating series continues to bring history up close and personal with a focus tha... more »t has an unshakable hold on the public imagination--the American West. Eyewitness to the American West links together, in short texts that highlight a grand perspective, 200 vignettes from the diaries, letters, memoirs, and reportage of men and women who were in the right place at the right time. Seamlessly and chronologically, they tie the Old West and its evolving boundaries with the modern West and its shifting social patterns. Spanning 500 years from Balboa's first sight of the Pacific to life inside a 1990s Montana militia group, vivid episodes and details swirl together revealing patterns that link early Kentuckians and Asian immigrants, Mormons and black Buffalo Soldiers, the first Los Angeles smog and the 1811 earthquake that reversed the Mississippi's flow, the Trail of Tears and the Summer of Love, Georgia O'Keefe at Taos, the origin of Levi's, and the seeds of Silicon Valley. This is an enthralling gift for students, teachers, history buffs, browsers, and frontier fans.« less