The American West: History, Myth and Legacy - Patrick Allitt

⭐ 9/10

This is a series of University lectures from the Great Courses, so while it's not technically a book, the truth is that I make the rules on this website and can do whatever I want. I'm basically like an outlaw round these parts. 

This book was phenomenal. It does a bit of sequential history, just going from the start (in this case, European discovery) until modern day, but also jumps around from topic to topic when appropriate. I would actually say this is one of my favorite books of purely American history, let alone western. I feel like I learned a ton as i always do when I listen these Great Courses books, and feel smarter for having done it.

Some interesting topics I didn't really expect to get here was the history of travel and tourism, like pointing out that the Rocky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Yosemite mountains, and western deserts were perilous for early explorers, and only got settled because of gold rushes and the availability of rail.  No appreciation of beauty for a while later, just wild land to tame. Or I liked the detailed history of horses and cattle in the west, how horses arrived in the west before European humans did. Just lots of interesting tidbits that I'd thought about but never had the answers to. 

The history of the West can be tricky because we love to romanticize ideas of grit, violence and courage. It's a very masculine era (I mean literally, it was mostly men out there), and we often lose sight of the atrocities committed, especially when it comes to indigenous people, black people and women. I think the author does a great job of getting into all of it, devoting chapters to these topics, but also never feels like he is preaching a sermon. I think it's often enough to describe the reality and trust your readers to decide. 

I think this book is a terrific one for anyone interested in westerns or in history. It's just a great book all around, never getting too bogged down in any one topic, but going in-depth enough to learn stuff you didn't know before. Highly recommend.