North American Odyssey

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

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., 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 Geographies for the Twenty-First Century will serve specialists and nonspecialists alike., [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., 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.', 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.

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.