Beyond the Missouri

Richard Etulain is best known as a scholar for his expertise in the cultural and intellectual—and, especially, literary—history of the American West. With this book, though, he offers a wide-ranging overview of the West’s entire history, from Anasazi Indians to the present. Since most of us prefer the exciting days of the 19th century to “current events,” you’ll be pleased to know that Etulain does not pass 1900 until the twelfth of 15 chapters. In his handling of this full-scale