Into the West: From Reconstruction to the Final Days of the American Frontier
by James M. McPherson
Hardcover: 96 pages
Publisher: Atheneum (October 10, 2006)
ISBN-10: 0689865430, ISBN-13: 978-0689865435
Product Dimensions: 10 x 9.9 x 0.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
$22.95 Hardcover New

From Pulitzer Prize award-winning historian James M. McPherson comes a thrilling account of America's westward expansion. In this sweeping tale of one of the most exciting and colorful periods in our country's growth, Dr. McPherson interweaves the nation's attempt to bind its Civil War wounds through Reconstruction with the triumphant and tragic taming of the American frontier.

Into the West contains personal narratives from settlers an soldiers as well as profiles and accounts of the actions of many historical luminaries involved in Reconstruction and the movement west, such as President Andrew Johnson, General George Armstrong, Custer, Sitting Bull, General William Techumseh Sherman, Geronimo, and Wild Bill Hickock. Dr. McPherson also explores the role of women and the development of the arts on the frontier, the role and legend of the cowboy, and the destruction of the Native American way of life in this thought-provoking companion to the bestselling Fields of Fury.

Filled with maps, period photos, illustrations, and anecdotes, this vivid retelling of America's journey, Into the West, will fascinate readers, young and old.

James M. McPherson, Ph.D. an American history expert and one of the most distinguished historians of our time, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for Battle Cry of Freedom; The Civil War Era. His other bestselling books include For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War, Drawn with the Sword; Reflections on the American Civil War, What They Fought For, 1861-1865; Gettysburg: The Paintings of Mort Kunstler, Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution; and Field of Fury. An active preservationist, he has served on the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission since 1991. Dr. McPherson was named the Jefferson Lecturer in the Humanities for 2000 by the National Endowment of the Humanities. A professor at Princeton University, he lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Although this book's title and cover art suggest that its sole focus is the post-Civil War movement into the West, McPherson discusses events that happened during the conflict as well as after. The book is divided into 39 chapters, most consisting of a single-page essay about a topic, paired with an attractive, full-page period illustration or photo, some of which are in color. Each page of text also has a related Quick Facts sidebar. Many early sections discuss the upheavals and difficulties of Reconstruction, including the debate over presidential versus congressional reconstruction, the Ku Klux Klan, and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. Later chapters cover the Homestead Act, cattle drives, outlaws, and the forced removal of Native American tribes. McPherson writes objectively and well, and students will find the heavily illustrated format attractive.

James M. McPherson has become the preeminent expert on the Civil War and Reconstruction. His award-winning work provides detail, context and a modern perspective on one of America's most important historical periods.

James M. McPherson (born October 11, 1936) is an American Civil War historian, and is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus of United States History at Princeton University. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom, his most famous book. He was the president of the American Historical Association in 2003, and is a member of the editorial board of Encyclopædia Britannica.

Born in Valley City, North Dakota, he graduated from St. Peter High School, and he received his Bachelor of Arts at Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, Minnesota) in 1958 (from which he graduated magna cum laude), and his Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University in 1963. Currently he resides in Princeton, New Jersey, and is married with one child.

James M. McPherson has helped millions of Americans better understand the meaning and legacy of the American Civil War. By establishing the highest standards for scholarship and public education about the Civil War and by providing leadership in the movement to protect the nation's battlefields, he has made an exceptional contribution to historical awareness in America.