Atlas of the New West: Portrait of a Changing Region [Hardcover]

James J. Robb (Author), William E. Riebsame (Editor), Hannah Gosnell (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1997

An atlas for our times that makes sense of the fast-paced transformation of the American West.

The West. Americans hold dearly to old ideas of it as a unique, wild place of majestic space, ranching and mining, small-town life, and opportunity.

And so it can still be -- but rarely. The West's central reality nowadays is that it is new.

This newness has never been so well presented in this book's forty-six full-color, three-dimensional, computer-generated maps; its two brilliant essays; its informative sidebars; its boxed information (for example, how the first seven wolves introduced into Yellowstone died); and its dozens of charts and graphs, highlighting:
-- The New West's fortunes now ride on tourism and a postindustrial, high-tech economy.
-- The West is America's fastest urbanizing region.
-- Rodeos, dude ranches, and open range now abide with sprawling cities, ski resorts, plugged-in telecommuters, micro-breweries, and mountain biking meccas.
-- Illustrations show old Western battles taking new forms -- who owns what land? who controls what water rights? and how much development is too much?
-- Gold-medal trout streams, nuclear-waste sites, jet ports, regional writers, reintroduced wolves, Rocky Mountain and Sierra Nevadan economies ...

All are here -- and much more -- in this valuable, beautiful, and eye-opening examination of life as it is now in our Western states.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The American West looms large in the national imagination as a place of coyotes, cowboys, and wide-open spaces. But with more Americans moving there each year than to any other region of the U.S., the reality of the new West has become somewhat different. What happens when the West of loggers, miners, grizzly bears, and greasy spoons gives way to that of "extreme" recreation, telecommuting, psychic vortexes, and espresso? A group of historians, geographers, and other intellectuals at Boulder's Center of the American West maps these and other transformations in the Atlas of the New West, a stunningly comprehensive look at a region in the grip of tumultuous change.

From irrigation to infrastructure, lifestyle to literature, the Atlas of the New West considers almost every aspect of life in the intermountain West, uncovering some surprising facts along the way. Who would have dreamed, for instance, that a higher percentage of westerners than northeasterners live in cities--or that, if evenly distributed, each resident of Nevada's Eureka County would stand alone on 3.5 square miles of land? Statistics like these come paired with essays, photographs, and beautiful full-color maps depicting everything from brewpub distribution to water consumption to Superfund sites. This handsome and thoughtful book is of vital interest to anyone who cares about this beautiful, fragile, and complex region of the United States.

From Library Journal

Though some may quibble with the exclusion of chunks of the Pacific coast states beyond the Sierras and Cascades in the editors' definition of the core West, it makes sense. The core region is the Rocky Mountain West, arguably the region the most affected in recent years by technological and social change. The land and culture there is not recognizable to those who have spent 20 years away. Editor Riebsame and Director of Cartography Robb, under the auspices of the University of Colorado's Center for the American West, have hit all the appropriate issues here: nuclear waste, growth of technological firms, and cultural blossoming. Clearly, this collaborative effort had input from planners, historians, and sociologists. Filled with maps and illuminating sidebar items, this attractive book will appeal to scholars and the general public alike and belongs in most reference collections.?David S. Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Libs., Philadelphia
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (November 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393045501
• ISBN-13: 978-0393045505
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 8.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #906,126 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Illustrations of the Changes Underway in the West, July 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Atlas of the New West: Portrait of a Changing Region (Hardcover)

One of the best introductions to social, economic and environmental trends taking place in the Western United States. The graphs and photos highlight the new trends from water usage to ethic population patterns. The 7 chapters and two essays provide telling examples of how communtities are adapting to the changes (or not adapting in some cases). The work is footnoted to provide jumping off points for more research. Also, I found the quotes that are placed throughout the margins of the text to be extremely insightful.

The book shines at showing how the West is moving away from a culture of exploiting natural resources for basic industry and instead exploiting the natural beauty to draw ever increasing numbers of residents and visitors.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At last, a current guide to the geography of hope., February 15, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (McLean, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Atlas of the New West: Portrait of a Changing Region (Hardcover)

The University of Colorado's School of Geography uses basic demographic and economic data to profile in understandable maps and graphs the population explosion occurring in the Western United States. The Atlas gives a dramatic presentation of the net in migration into an area with little water and vast amounts of open space. It chronicles the shift in economic activity from traditional industries such as mining and logging, to new industries such as information technologies and service activities. The latter having a special, and economically, rewarding basis in tourism. The Atlas portrays, in graphic form the perdictions made in Cadillac Deseret. It is a must read for anyone concerned about perserving western heritage for future generations.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential reference, November 22, 2002

By 

Ron Franscell, Author of 'Sourtoe Cocktail Club' - See all my reviews

This review is from: Atlas of the New West: Portrait of a Changing Region (Hardcover)

For anyone who loves the West -- Old or New -- this innovative atlas must find a place on your bookshelf. Created at the University of Colorado's Center of the American West, it charts beautifully and eloquently how the American West has evolved. This volume will help you understand how some myths of the West grew out of proportion to the facts, and how some are not myths at all, but semi-fantastic truths.

To understand the contemporary West, this book would be a good starting place.