John M. Findlay presents a historical overview of the American West between 1940 and 2000, arguing that during the years of U.S. mobilization for World War II and the Cold War, the West remained a significant and distinctive region.

John M. Findlay is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Washington, Seattle. He is the author of People of Chance: Gambling in American Society from Jamestown to Las Vegas and Magic Lands: Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940, and coauthor with Bruce W. Hevly of Atomic Frontier Days: Hanford and the American West.

List of Illustrations
Series Editor’s Introduction
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. A Mobilized Region: The American West during Wartime
2. Westerners: Regional Societies and Regional Identities
3. “A Little More Wide Open”: Social and Political Movements in the Western States
4. Seized by Initiative: Direct Democracy and Political Culture in the Far West
5. Armed Standoffs: The Politics of Federal Lands in the West
6. Region of the Imagination: The Mythic West and the Realistic West after 1940
Epilogue
Appendix: Western States Census Summaries, 1940–2000
Notes
Bibliography
Index