The Legacy of Conquest Author:Patricia Nelson Limerick 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 stories a... more »nd 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.« less