North American Odyssey

Historical Geographies for the Twenty-first Century

Edited by Craig E. Colten and Geoffrey L. Buckley

This groundbreaking volume offers a fresh approach to conceptualizing the historical geography of North America by taking a thematic rather than a traditional regional perspective. Leading geographers, building on current scholarship in the field, explore five central themes. Part I explores the settling and resettling of the continent through the experiences of Native Americans, early European arrivals, and Africans. Part II examines nineteenth-century European immigrants, the reconfiguration of Native society, and the internal migration of African Americans. Part III considers human transformations of the natural landscape in carving out a transportation network, replumbing waterways, extracting timber and minerals, preserving wilderness, and protecting wildlife. Part IV focuses on human landscapes, blending discussions of the visible imprint of society and distinctive approaches to interpreting these features. The authors discuss survey systems, regional landscapes, and tourist and mythic landscapes as well as the role of race, gender, and photographic representation in shaping our understanding of past landscapes. Part V follows the urban impulse in an analysis of the development of the mercantile city, nineteenth- and twentieth-century planning, and environmental justice. With its focus on human-environment interactions, the mobility of people, and growing urbanization, this thoughtful text will give students a uniquely geographical way to understand North American history.

Contributions by: Derek H. Alderman, Timothy G. Anderson, Kevin Blake, Christopher G. Boone, Geoffrey L. Buckley, Craig E. Colten, Michael P. Conzen, Lary M. Dilsaver, Mona Domosh, William E. Doolittle, Joshua Inwood, Ines M. Miyares, E. Arnold Modlin, Jr., Edward K. Muller, Michael D. Myers, Karl Raitz, Jasper Rubin, Joan M. Schwartz, Steven Silvern, Andrew Sluyter, Jeffrey S. Smith, Robert Wilson, William Wyckoff, and Yolonda Youngs

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 460 • Trim: 7½ x 10¼

978-1-4422-1584-9 • Hardback • March 2014 • $192.00 • (£148.00)

978-1-4422-1585-6 • Paperback • March 2014 • $94.00 • (£72.00)

978-1-4422-1586-3 • eBook • March 2014 • $89.00 • (£68.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Human Geography, History / North America

Courses: Geography; Human & Cultural; World Regional; North America, Geography; Human & Cultural; History

North American Odyssey

Historical Geographies for the Twenty-first Century

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

This groundbreaking volume offers a fresh approach to conceptualizing the historical geography of North America by taking a thematic rather than a traditional regional perspective. Leading geographers, building on current scholarship in the field, explore five central themes. Part I explores the settling and resettling of the continent through the experiences of Native Americans, early European arrivals, and Africans. Part II examines nineteenth-century European immigrants, the reconfiguration of Native society, and the internal migration of African Americans. Part III considers human transformations of the natural landscape in carving out a transportation network, replumbing waterways, extracting timber and minerals, preserving wilderness, and protecting wildlife. Part IV focuses on human landscapes, blending discussions of the visible imprint of society and distinctive approaches to interpreting these features. The authors discuss survey systems, regional landscapes, and tourist and mythic landscapes as well as the role of race, gender, and photographic representation in shaping our understanding of past landscapes. Part V follows the urban impulse in an analysis of the development of the mercantile city, nineteenth- and twentieth-century planning, and environmental justice. With its focus on human-environment interactions, the mobility of people, and growing urbanization, this thoughtful text will give students a uniquely geographical way to understand North American history.

Contributions by: Derek H. Alderman, Timothy G. Anderson, Kevin Blake, Christopher G. Boone, Geoffrey L. Buckley, Craig E. Colten, Michael P. Conzen, Lary M. Dilsaver, Mona Domosh, William E. Doolittle, Joshua Inwood, Ines M. Miyares, E. Arnold Modlin, Jr., Edward K. Muller, Michael D. Myers, Karl Raitz, Jasper Rubin, Joan M. Schwartz, Steven Silvern, Andrew Sluyter, Jeffrey S. Smith, Robert Wilson, William Wyckoff, and Yolonda Youngs

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 460 • Trim: 7½ x 10¼

978-1-4422-1584-9 • Hardback • March 2014 • $192.00 • (£148.00)

978-1-4422-1585-6 • Paperback • March 2014 • $94.00 • (£72.00)

978-1-4422-1586-3 • eBook • March 2014 • $89.00 • (£68.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Human Geography, History / North America

Courses: Geography; Human & Cultural; World Regional; North America, Geography; Human & Cultural; History

Author

Craig E. Colten is the Carl O. Sauer Professor of Geography at Louisiana State University. Geoffrey L. Buckley is Professor of Geography at Ohio University.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Craig E. Colten and Geoffrey L. Buckley
Part I: Settling and Resettling the Land
Chapter 1: The New Narrative on Native Landscape Transformations
Michael D. Myers and William E. Doolittle
Chapter 2: North America’s Colonial European Roots, 1492 to 1867
Jeffrey S. Smith
Chapter 3: African Arrivals and Transformations
Andrew Sluyter
Part II: Remaking Society
Chapter 4: Reordering the Geography of Indian Country: Historical Geographies of Removal, Reservations, and Assimilation
Steven Silvern
Chapter 5: Labor and New Community Formation in the Twentieth Century
Ines M. Miyares
Chapter 6: The Great Migration
Joshua Inwood
Part III: Transforming the Land
Chapter 7: Making Connections via Roads, Rivers, Canals, and Rails
Karl Raitz
Chapter 8: Extracting Wealth from the Earth and Forest
Geoffrey L. Buckley
Chapter 9: Redirecting Water: Transforming Waterways
Craig E. Colten
Chapter 10: Preserving Lands for Future Generations: The U. S. Experience
Lary M. Dilsaver
Chapter 11: Animals and the American Landscape
Robert Wilson
Part IV: Shaping the Landscape
Chapter 12: "Dividing the Land"
Timothy G. Anderson
Chapter 13: Science and Sentiment: The Work of Photography in Nineteenth-Century North America
Joan M. Schwartz
Chapter 14: Making Mythic Landscapes
Kevin Blake
Chapter 15: The Historical Geography of Racialized Landscapes
Derek H. Alderman and E. Arnold Modlin Jr.
Chapter 16: Toward a Gendered Historical Geography of North America
Mona Domosh
Chapter 17: Shaping Tourism
Yolonda Youngs
Chapter 18: Creating Regional Landscapes and Identities
William Wyckoff
Part V: Urbanizing the Land
Chapter 19: Making Urban Wealth: The Primacy of Mercantilism
Michael P. Conzen
Chapter 20: “If Ever a City Needed the Definite Plan”: Planning Spatial Order for American Cities
Edward K. Muller
Chapter 21: Planning and American Urbanization since 1950
Jasper Rubin
Chapter 22: Justice and Equity in the City
Christopher G. Boone

Reviews

Editors Colten and Buckley envisioned their book to update and complement earlier historical geographies of the continent. The topical and methodological framework employed by the editors provides a vibrant survey of the breadth and depth of the discourse, themes, and controversies currently energizing the discipline of historical geography. The authoritative roster of scholars, their thought-provoking essay foci, and the structuring of the collection coalesce into a unifying rhythm and energy that is not often found in edited volumes. The 22 essays are divided into five sections focusing on indigenous societies and European settlement; 19th-century industrialization and westward expansion; nature-society interactions; perception and identity; and urban issues. The fourth section, ‘Shaping the Landscape,’ is the lengthiest and theoretically strongest, featuring seven essays tackling such subjects as race, gender, tourism, and mythogenesis. Individual essays throughout the collection present a well-balanced epistemological treatment broaching traditional and critical approaches. The essays are nicely adorned with over 100 well-chosen and attractive maps and archival photographs. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.
— Choice Reviews

This work is a monumental achievement of both historical geography and environmental history. Craig E. Colten and Geoffrey L. Buckley set out to answer geographer Carl Sauer’s plea, made over seven decades ago, to return historical narratives, methodologies, and perspectives to the discipline of geography. This comprehensive edited collection does so admirably. Synthesizing the most recent innovative theoretical work of scholars specializing in cultural and historical geography, North American Odyssey: Historical Geographiesfor the Twenty-First Century will serve specialists and nonspecialists alike.
— Journal of Southern History

[North American Odyssey] offer useful summaries of important components of the historical geography of the United States. It also reveals a group of vigorous American historical geographers turning with considerable energy in various, loosely-related directions that could, in powerful hands, provide grist for a fresh and powerful synthesis of the historical geography of the United States.
— Journal of Historical Geography

Both the old and the new are included among these twenty-two essays. . . .One has to agree with the editors that North American Odyssey proves that historical geography is 'alive and well.'
— Historical Geography

This innovative collection of essays by leading scholars shows how North America came to look the way it does. Its thematic organization makes connections past and present in ways that students will appreciate.
— Richard Harris, McMaster University

In North American Odyssey, Craig Colten and Geoff Buckley have included some of the best scholars in the field. The book is, by turn, informative, inspiring, and provocative. A good read.
— Stanley W. Trimble, emeritus, UCLA

An excellent volume, insightful, and up-to-date.

— Richard Nostrand, University of Oklahoma

Features

Thematic treatment of the historical geography of North America

Written by leading scholars in the field

Richly illustrated with maps and photographs

Provides an overview of the wide range of research avenues historical geographers are exploring today

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Resources

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Lecture Notes. The Lecture Notes provide the tables and figures from the text.