2007 AAUP Public and Secondary School Library Selection The Midwest captured in all its variety, from the Sears Tower and the streets of Detroit to the Dakota reservations and the corn fields of Iowa ". . . [A] collection of provocative readings that may inspire further research. . . . Recommended." —Choice
"You'll close this new book and start spouting fascinating—and even useful—facts to your friends long before you realize that." —Trevor Meers, Midwest Living
"Any way you look at it, The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia is impressive." —Minnesota History
"Best suited for browsing or targeted searches via the excellent index, this essential encyclopedia is suitable for patrons of all public and academic libraries." —Julienne L. Wood, American Reference Books Annual
"What geography can give all Middle Westerners along with the fresh water and topsoil, if they let it, is awe for an Edenic continent stretching forever in all directions. Makes you religious. Takes your breath away." —Kurt Vonnegut
"No matter what I write I begin there." —Toni Morrison
"Best suited for browsing or targeting searches via the excellent index, this essential encyclopedia is suitable for patrons of all public and academic libraries." —Julienne L. Wood, American Reference Books Annual Vol. 39 , 2008 This first-ever encyclopedia of the Midwest seeks to embrace this large and diverse area, to give it voice, and help define its distinctive character. Organized by topic, it encourages readers to reflect upon the region as a whole. Each section moves from the general to the specific, covering broad themes in longer introductory essays, filling in the details in the shorter entries that follow. There are portraits of each of the region’s twelve states, followed by entries on society and culture, community and social life, economy and technology, and public life. The book offers a wealth of information about the region’s surprising ethnic diversity—a vast array of foods, languages, styles, religions, and customs—plus well-informed essays on the region’s history, culture and values, and conflicts. A site of ideas and innovations, reforms and revivals, and social and physical extremes, the Midwest emerges as a place of great complexity, signal importance, and continual fascination.
Read an excerpt from "Portraits of the Twelve States"
Richard Sisson is Provost and Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Ohio State University. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Christian Zacher is Professor of English at Ohio State University and Director of its Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Andrew Cayton is Distinguished Professor of History at Miami University. He lives in Oxford, Ohio.
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Distribution: World Publication date: 10/17/2006 Format: cloth 1916 pages, 354 b&w photos, 8.5 x 11 ISBN-13: 978-0-253-34886-9 ISBN: 0-253-34886-2
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