Review of The Middle West: Its Meaning in American Culture.

Authors

David D. Van Tassel, Case Western Reserve University

Date of this Version

1991

Document Type

Article

Comments

Published in GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY 11:3 (Summer 1991). Copyright © 1991 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Abstract

This book is a well-argued analysis of a variety of sources in the tradition of Henry Nash Smith's Virgin Land and Leo Marx's The Machine in the Garden. While Shortridge does not attempt to lay to rest the question of the objective existence of a midwestern culture or examine the nature of that culture and its origins, his work will nevertheless stimulate a good deal of debate and further research.