ABSTRACT

The only compact yet comprehensive survey of environmental and cultural forces that have shaped the visual character and geographical diversity of the settled American landscape. The book examines the large-scale historical influences that have molded the varied human adaptation of the continent’s physical topography to its needs over more than 500 years. It presents a synoptic view of myriad historical processes working together or in conflict, and illustrates them through their survival in or disappearance from the everyday landscapes of today.

chapter |10 pages

Introduction

chapter One|21 pages

Recognizing Nature's bequest

chapter Three|15 pages

Refashioning Hispanic landscapes

chapter Seven|20 pages

Gridding a national landscape

chapter Eight|26 pages

Clearing the forests

chapter Nine|19 pages

Remaking the prairies

chapter Ten|22 pages

Watering the deserts

chapter Eleven|24 pages

Inscribing ethnicity on the land

chapter Twelve|26 pages

Organizing religious landscapes

chapter Thirteen|24 pages

Mechanizing the American earth

chapter Fourteen|26 pages

Building American cityscapes

chapter Fifteen|28 pages

Asserting central authority

chapter Sixteen|24 pages

Creating landscapes of civil society

chapter Eighteen|20 pages

Paving America for the automobile

chapter Twenty|16 pages

Designing the American utopia Refections