Review of Empires, Nations, and Families: A History of the North American West, 1800-1860 by Anne F. Hyde

Authors

Walter Nugent

Date of this Version

Spring 2012

Citation

Great Plains Quarterly 32:2 (Spring 2012).

Comments

Copyright © 2012 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska.

Abstract

This extraordinary book is a recasting and retelling of virtually the entire history of the trans-Mississippi West from 1804 to about 1860. Its solid source foundation ranges from early fur-trade documents to the most recent monographs. It is amply illustrated with rarely seen visuals from many archives and replete with scores of real women and men-AngloAmerican, French, Native, and Metis. The focus is on family connections-marital, sexual, social, economic-and the crossing of racial boundaries and networks. Women are never absent, and their agency is evident. Every chapter opens with a vignette about a family member-man, woman, or child.