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Rivers of Empire: Water, Aridity, and the Growth of the American West Reprint Edition

by Donald Worster (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 34 ratings
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When Henry David Thoreau went for his daily walk, he would consult his instincts on which direction to follow. More often than not his inner compass pointed west or southwest. "The future lies that way to me," he explained, "and the earth seems more unexhausted and richer on that side." In his own imaginative way, Thoreau was imitating the countless young pioneers, prospectors, and entrepreneurs who were zealously following Horace Greeley's famous advice to "go west." Yet while the epic chapter in American history opened by these adventurous men and women is filled with stories of frontier hardship, we rarely think of one of their greatest problems--the lack of water resources. And the same difficulty that made life so troublesome for early settlers remains one of the most pressing concerns in the western states of the late-twentieth century.

The American West, blessed with an abundance of earth and sky but cursed with a scarcity of life's most fundamental need, has long dreamed of harnessing all its rivers to produce unlimited wealth and power. In Rivers of Empire, award-winning historian Donald Worster tells the story of this dream and its outcome. He shows how, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Mormons were the first attempting to make that dream a reality, damming and diverting rivers to irrigate their land. He follows this intriguing history through the 1930s, when the federal government built hundreds of dams on every major western river, thereby laying the foundation for the cities and farms, money and power of today's West. Yet while these cities have become paradigms of modern American urban centers, and the farms successful high-tech enterprises, Worster reminds us that the costs have been extremely high. Along with the wealth has come massive ecological damage, a redistribution of power to bureaucratic and economic elites, and a class conflict still on the upswing. As a result, the future of this "hydraulic West" is increasingly uncertain, as water continues to be a scarce resource, inadequate to the demand, and declining in quality.

Rivers of Empire represents a radically new vision of the American West and its historical significance. Showing how ecological change is inextricably intertwined with social evolution, and reevaluating the old mythic and celebratory approach to the development of the West, Worster offers the most probing, critical analysis of the region to date. He shows how the vast region encompassing our western states, while founded essentially as colonies, have since become the true seat of the American "Empire." How this imperial West rose out of desert, how it altered the course of nature there, and what it has meant for Thoreau's (and our own) mythic search for freedom and the American Dream, are the central themes of this eloquent and thought-provoking story--a story that begins and ends with water.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0195078063
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0195078060
  3. Edition
    Reprint
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    June 18, 1992
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6.14 x 1.13 x 9.2 inches
  8. Print length
    416 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Classic."--New Internationalist

"Extremely wonderful and well-written."--Thomas G. Alexander, Brigham Young University

"Worster is an eloquent, often passionate historian....This important book, sure to be furiously debated, is a history of the West in terms of its most essential resource, water....It examines how manipulation of water has combined with frontier myths, expectations, and illusions, some of them carefully cultivated by interested parties, to create the ambiguous modern West."--Wallace Stegner

"Worster is capable of making the most prosaic facts come alive through his mastery of the language, his imagery, and his ability to weave his ideas with events and personalities into a fascinating historical record."--The Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Many readers will disagree with [Worster's] conclusions, but they are so forcefully presented that they cannot be dismissed, and will likely shape the discussions for years to come....A language of exceptional poetry and power....He takes his place in a tradition of awed affectionate writing about the West that includes John Muir and Edward Abbey, Bernard De Voto and Wallace Stegner. That is distinguished company indeed, and Donald Worster stands tall in it."--The New York Times Book Review

"A brilliant book, clear in its argument, exceptional in its literary qualities."--The Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Impassioned and lyrical."^--The New York Times Book Review

"An excellent choice for courses that include readings from the New Western History interpretations."--Thomas L. Charlton, Baylor University

Book Description

Rivers of Empire represents a radically new vision of the American West and its historical significance.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; Reprint edition (June 18, 1992)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0195078063
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195078060
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 1.13 x 9.2 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 34 ratings

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Donald Worster

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
34 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Ernest K. Robeson
5.0 out of 5 stars Huge volume of information
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2022
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Great used book in good condition, grateful to find it.
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Alice Roberts
5.0 out of 5 stars good book
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2013
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good info on an important subject. not that it's anything like a vollmann book, but if you liked 'empire' you should check this out.
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A Different Kind of Thought
4.0 out of 5 stars Key for environmental history
Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2019
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If you're a specialist in environmental history, you'd almost have to read this book at some point, or at least be familiar with its contribution and arguments. Worster has written a powerful critique of western settlement, agribusiness, and the politics of the "water wars." Works well with Cadillac Desert.
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john o'brien
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2014
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quick shipper, item as advertised, Thanks!
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The Professor
2.0 out of 5 stars Overzealous to the point of illogic
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2009
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The central argument Worster tries to make in here is that the "hydraulic society" of the American West has somehow created an antidemocracy in which technocrats and plutocrats run everything. He asserts in his his book that "everything begins and ends with water." If you accept this premise, his text has some interesting points, but the logical leaps required to accept the premise are difficult to make. As much as anything this book seems to be an attack on capitalism, but even that does not hold up because at different points in the text the author both highlights the need to get the power "into the hands of as many people as possible" and the problems people have in making self-regulated decisions. The general ecological message is still reasonably sound - learn to live with nature and don't fight it or dominate it to the point of damage - but the rest of the book is confusing and suffering from an overly narrow focus. Read it if you have to, but be aware of what you are getting in to.
7 people found this helpful
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Roger D. Launius
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! A Must Read, a Pathbreaking Analysis!
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2004
I can count on two hands the number of truly pathbreaking works of history published since 1980. "Rivers of Empire" is one of them, and must reading for anyone who seeks to understand the history of this critical region of the United States.
Donald Worster, Hall Distinguished Professor of American History at the University of Kansas, has been producing outstanding history of the American West and environmentalism for more than a quarter century. When the so-called "New Western History" was avant-garde in historian circles in the early 1980s he was dubbed one of the "Gang of Four" who transformed the field of study--the others being Patricia Nelson Limerick, William Cronen, and Richard White. Worster's work, as well as that of the other three historians, was indeed pathbreaking, and "Rivers of Empire: Water, Aridity, and the Growth of the American West" is by far his most influential publication. It demonstrates well why Worster was one of the "Gang of Four."
In "Rivers of Empire" Worster argues that the core reality of the American West is its aridity. To make it suitable for large-scale human habitation required the complete transformation of the region; Americans harnessed the rivers and brought water there, irrigating the land and creating great cities. As Worster writes, "The ecological and social transformation of the Great Valley is one of the most spectacular, and more revealing episodes of the American West" (p. 11). The organization and structure of every institution associated with the West reflected the need to control the environment. It brought profound changes to both the region and the people who lived there. This is the story that he tells in this superb book.
Ironically, the supposed individualistic and democratic westerners willingly conspired with the government to create a hydraulic civilization under the suzerainty of the federal government. In order to flourish in the arid West Americans had to build an agricultural system that was dependent upon large-scale government-managed waterworks--productive (for irrigation) and protective (for flood control). This not only made the West habitable, it brought urbanization and wealth there as well. Ancient Egypt first engaged in this type of civilization, and became a dominant power in the process. But always, there were winners and losers in this situation and those left out harped on the inequities of the system. In the American West the "Sagebrush Revolution" of the latter twentieth century pitted the presumably individualist West against the organization and power of the federal government. Ironically, the very organization and power that had created the modern American West was under attack from those who had so benefited from it.
Worster notes that the dominant myth of the West needs to be replaced with a more realistic understanding. He asserts that it is best understood as a story "of people encountering difficult environments, of driving to overcome them through technological means, of creating the necessary social organization to do so, of leading on and on to indigenous bureaucracy and corporatism" (p. 11). He is so right.
This is a wonderful book. Don't miss it!
19 people found this helpful
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Jacqueline M Scharer
2.0 out of 5 stars If I didn't need it for class -I never would have gotten it!
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2016
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I needed this book for a historiographical review...I found the author to be redundant and sanctimonious. The author could easily have gotten his point across in far fewer pages and a lot less time. And, his word usage is awkward at best.
2 people found this helpful
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PJM
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2017
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okay
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Top reviews from other countries

NJ
2.0 out of 5 stars Bad print quality..
Reviewed in India on August 1, 2016
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Bad print quality..
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