![]() | A Land Apart: The Southwest and the Nation in the Twentieth Century Subjects: New Mexico -- History -- 20th century; Arizona -- History -- 20th century; Indians of North America -- New Mexico -- History -- 20th century; Indians of North America -- Arizona -- History -- 20th century; Hispanic Americans -- Arizona -- History -- 20th; Winner, Spur Award for Best Contemporary Nonfiction (Western Writers of America) Burke argues that the Southwest's reputation as a region on the margins of the nation has caused many of its problems in the twentieth century. She proposes that, as they consider the future, Americans should view New Mexico and Arizona as close neighbors rather than distant siblings, pay attention to the region's history as Mexican and indigenous space, bear witness to the area's inequalities, and listen to the Southwest's stories. Burke explains that two core parts of southwestern history are the development of the nuclear bomb and subsequent uranium mining, and she maintains that these are not merely a critical facet in the history of World War II and the militarization of the American West but central to an understanding of the region's energy future, its environmental health, and southwesterners' conception of home. Burke masterfully crafts an engaging and accessible history that will interest historians and lay readers alike. It is for anyone interested in using the past to understand the present and the future of not only the region but the nation as a whole. Flannery Burke is an associate professor of history at Saint Louis University. She is the author of From Greenwich Village to Taos: Primitivism and Place at Mabel Dodge Luhan's. |
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