The West: An Illustrated History

by Geoffrey C. Ward, Stephen Ives (Preface), Ken Burns (Preface)

This is the companion volume to the stunning PBS TV series from Stephen Ives and Ken Burns. The book features over 400 illustrations, many of them never before published, in magnificent color. In a vivid narrative that begins with the arrival of the first Europeans and ends well into the 20th century, Ward provides a gripping journey through the turbulent history of the region that has come to symbolize America around the world. Drawing upon hundreds of letters, diaries, memoirs, and journals as well as the latest scholarship, THE WEST chronicles the arrival of wave after wave of newcomers from every direction of the compass. The cast is as rich and diverse as the western landscape itself--explorers, soldiers, Indian warriors, settlers, railroad builders and gaudy showmen. Coronado, Custer, Jesse James, Chief Joseph, Brigham Young and Buffalo Bill are all here. So are scores of lesser-known westerners whose stories are no less compelling--a Chinese ditchdigger. a rich Mexican landowner, a forty-niner from Chile, a Texas cowboy born in Britain, a woman missionary to the Indians who loathed the West and a Wellesley graduate who loved it in spite of everything it did to her and her family. It is the central story of America, a story filled with heroism and hope, enterprise and adventure as well as tragedy and disappointment. THE WEST explores the tensions between whites and the native peoples they sought to displace, but it also encompasses the Hispanic experience in the West from the time of the conquistadors to the transformation of a Mexican-American village called Los Angeles into the region's major metropolis, the lives of Chinese immigrants who called the region "Gold Mountain", and the ordeals of freed slaves from the South who sought a better life homesteading on the Great Plains. Beautifully written, richly illustrated, meticulously researched. THE WEST tells the story of a unique part of the country and provides a metaphor for the country as a whole.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Westerns, Historical, 19th Century, Photography

445 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1996

About the author

Geoffrey Champion Ward is an author and screenwriter of various documentary presentations of American history. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1962.

He was an editor of American Heritage magazine early in his career. He wrote the television mini-series The Civil War with its director Ken Burns and has collaborated with Burns on every documentary he has made since, including Jazz and Baseball. This work won him five Emmy Awards. The most recent Burns/Ward collaboration, The War, premiered on PBS in September 2007. In addition he co-wrote The West, of which Ken Burns was an executive producer, with fellow historian Dayton Duncan.

Reviews

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

The West: An Illustrated History by Geoffrey C. Ward (Little, Brown and Company 1996) (978) (3847).

This is the fascinating companion volume to the PBS television series The West by the legendary documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. I am a huge fan of Ken Burns’ work, but I did not remember much about this series. But I know this: The West: An Illustrated History by Geoffrey C. Ward is a sprawling overview of the history and settlement of the American West. It is an oversized volume, and it is crammed with photos (many never before published) on practically every one of its 434 pages.

I believe that this book can be best reviewed by simply noting some of the most interesting topics which the book and the film explore in just the right amount of depth: Pioneers and settlers, Bleeding Kansas, Sutter’s Mill, the decline and fall of the American bison, the Transcontinental railroad and the “Golden Spike,” Mormons, Custer and Little Big Horn, the Ghost Dance, the federal government’s attempts to subjugate indigenous tribes, cowboys, outlaws, Wounded Knee, the Sand Creek Massacre, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Lewis & Clark, and the Donner Party.

It’s all there in this volume. This book could serve as either a text for close study or as general browsing material. Either way the reader will wind up better informed and with his curiosity piqued.

I own a used PB copy which I purchased in like-new condition from my local used book store for $1.50 on 6/1/22.

My rating: 7/10, finished 8/11/23 (3847).

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 / 5.0

Well done. Really illuminates the understanding of the West from diverse viewpoints without being too judgmental.

[Ben Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A textbook companion to a 12 hour documentary miniseries about America settling the west? Sign me tf up
For a while I was bringing this to work in my backpack and it added like 10 pounds
A banger

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great introduction to the history of the American West. For someone like me, who has always been interested in that period of our history, but hadn't read much on the topic, this is a great "first book". The photographs are fantastic. You can spend all day just browsing this book, going back in time via the photography.

Being a companion book to a PBS documentary series it reads like a Ken Burns film. Because of this, the narrative jumps around a lot, and for the most part provides brief snipets of information on various figures from the era. While the specialist will perhaps find this shallow or redundant, for the newbie it's a great intro.

There isn't much here on the "popular" aspects of the Old West: Gunfighters are only briefly mentioned, the Alamo is glossed over in just a couple of pages, etc. Much of the narrative is devoted to the exploration and settlement of The West, delving into the conflicts that resulted. Much space is given to the conflict and wars the Native Americans.

As I said ealier, this is a great introduction to the period, I learned a great deal form it. And it has helped me to clairfy which of the many aspects of Old West history I'm most interested in. So inspired, I've already begun searching out books on those topics.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the first famished Spaniards who washed up on Galveston Island to the flamboyant escapades of John C. Fremont. This book has the west pretty much covered. Overall you begin to get the impression that the settlers pulled no punches in those dusty roughhouse days. Taking care not to leave any buffalo alive nor any "savage" Injian outside of his pen. It seems to be a history written largely in blood and greed. It was gold or it was land or... god knows what, if it had a price, someone was going to cash in. I wish we could have put our fears aside while entering the land of foreign people with strange beliefs. But as the cross would have it, no variant from the church was godly and thus must be destroyed. Kind of closed minded no? The author joins me in a glimpse of the could-have-been harmony between Native American and white man. It was entirely possible if it wasn't for our unquenchable thirst for riches and resources. While at the same time I am quite grateful to inhabit this beautiful California coast. So, cheers!

[Thomas Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect introduction to the history and spirit of ‘the West’. Loaded with remarkable photographs, and inspiring stories, this work will break down the barriers of the intervening years, and leave you feeling as though you have met rather than read about ‘the West’ -

After finishing this great book, I feel I have come to the end of a vivid and moving sojourn in a world as real as they come: one peopled with heroic individuals - men and women, like us indeed, but looming strangely large in the indomitable mastery they wield over the course of their own destinies: their stories are proud, resilient, and inspiring. Geoffrey Ward to his everlasting credit, manages to recount this great epic of America in a deeply personal and passionately human way, making liberal use of personal accounts and photographs, but orchestrating this without losing sight of the overarching historical narrative of which each individual tale forms only a strand. Mercifully too, for the reader, he declines to fall victim to the all too common pitfall of taking sides - white or indian? etc., for as he himself points out - the true story of the West is far more complex.

This supreme introduction to the subject narrates. above all, a profoundly human drama; playing out in a world about as free from governmental dictates as ever there was. In this truly American saga, the kings and emperors who crowded the pages of history before 1776, are forced to make way for the enterprising individual, the hopeful family of pioneers, the quintessential Americans who, breathing the invigorating air of liberty, would put the greatest of monarchs to shame, and no doubt with the tremendous scale of their success, strike fear into the hearts of tyrants the world over. Last but not least, this fascinating book captures the abounding diversity of characters which peopled this exciting, burgeoning, but treacherous world; an aspect all too often missed, but which comprises the lesser known counterpoint to the famed ‘wild’ side, which has become the dominating theme of cinema and legend.

I will finish with just one small criticism - the main narrative is interspersed with three to six page essays written by academics and scholars of varying pretensions. Avoid these like the plague! They are insufferably condescending, as from their ivory towers in pious liberal Universities, these sanctimonious professors glare down their pasty noses at our ancestral heroes, muddying the picture and spoiling the narrative, with their facile themes of eternal division: white man strong - brown man weak. White man bad - brown man innocent etc. People of their miserable ilk never would have set foot in the West at all. They have no right to write about those that did in this way!

[Barbara (Bobby) Title · Rating 4 out of 5]

The paperback copy of The West by Geoffrey C. Ward is a First Back Bay paperback edition dated 1999. It is not an illustrated edition, although I have seen the pictures in one of the big editions. The book contains 8 chapters, and each chapter has a narrative/essay/reflection attached to it written by a noted author; these are of varied lengths, but none reasonably short.

I loved this book and while I wasn't totally ignorant about "the West" I sure did learn a lot of important, and a lot of interesting things that I either didn't know or didn't remember. I couldn't put the book down - my signal that this is a #1 book.

I must say, however, that I really didn't care for the use of the narratives at the end of each chapter. It wasn't that they were bad or poorly written; it is just that for me they didn't add anything to the story that was being told by the book's authors. Often they were (I thought) overly long and wordy; They got in the way, as far as I was concerned. They belonged somewhere else, maybe in some other book.

As for the truths in the book, I was reminded that at times our own ancestors were as ruthless as the enemies we have now in the middle-east. I was appalled at what I had to read and believe. I was surprised at the full story of the lives of some of our historical "heros" - and I could have cried buckets of tears at what "we" did to the Indians - individuals, businesses and governments alike.

The value of this book is that I believe it is telling a truthful story.

[R G G Currie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having previously read Blood Meridian by Corman MacCarthy, I turned to this non-fiction story about the settlement of the western United States. I was hoping for hoping for something along the lines of Ken Burns' books, but this was the companion volume to the Ken Burns documentary. It confirms that the West was a very violent place, particularly if you were a native Indian or Mexican (or a buffalo). There was an inexorable tide of settlement that swept everything before it.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Accurate historical and detailed portrayals of the oppression of the Native American tribes living in the west, the decimation of their people, the displacement of their homes and villages and the destruction of their culture as the White Man wanted more and more of lands that were never their own to take.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully illustrated history of the American West. It has sat beside me on my side table for the last 8 months and I have picked it up and read a section or two and put it down. It has been a companion during this time and I enjoyed reading it this way. I will miss this "old friend" now that I will put it on the shelf again. Well worth reading.

[Migg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent history of how the West was formed, how The United States came to be. At times tedious, but engaging and revealing. Recommended reading for those interested in early History of the United States of America. The book I have is not the Illustrated edition, but The complete text of the illustrated companion volume to the acclaimed PBS television series.

[Caitie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve seen the Ken Burns docuseries more than once, and frankly I think that all these photos and such work better in traditional documentary format.

[kat]

researching for my thesis how different books marketed towards children depict the colonial history of CA. this one was surprisingly good!

[Gig Wailgum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this after seeing the documentary many years ago.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an audioversion of 'An Illustrated History' which I found at the library. It goes along with a series by Ken Burns.

Liked:

The stories. Varied in tone and texture, covering MOST (more about that later) of the major players in the American West.

The narration. Done by the author and more like a story than a history.

The writing. Vivid and interesting.

Disliked:

The music. What's with the dramatic music now and then? Very distracting, at times, louder than the narration. Really irritating.

Where are the Mormons? That's my biggest complaint about this one. 4 tapes and NOTHING about any of the Latter-day Saints? Not Brigham Young, not Johnson's Army, not the Mormon Trail, not the colonization from Canada to Mexico, California to Winter Quarters? Nothing about the state of Deseret, or the polygamists hiding out from federal marshals? Come on, the Mormons were major players in the landscape and history of whole western half of the United States. All we get is a mere mention of a calf belonging to some Mormon pioneer being killed by the Lakota. Lame! I know I'm biased, but really, I don't see how you can leave us out altogether.

And the continual story of Indian tribe after tribe being lied to and cheated by the American government gets hard to listen to. I know that is the actual history, so it's impossible to tell about western expansion without their stories, but after a while, it gets really hard to hear. It seems like the very land that represented opportunity for so many living in the East and in other countries meant nothing but deprivation and war for the native peoples who were here first.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The panoramic sweep of this book is impressive. I read (or should I say "browsed") though this companion book while watching the Ken Burns' documentary of the same name, and found that the book expanded on subjects I wanted to pursue in more depth. That it to say, the book stands on its own. Wonderful illustrations -- just as a visual browse this is a good resource.

[Daniel Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very informative in exposing both sides of the west, white and red. It time-lines the events and hardships that where performed and documents how the west was won.
It's haunting pictures/daguerreotypes help illustrate the easy-to-read paragraphs, and give a personal sense between reader and character.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why I originally checked this out for the photos, which while good, were not the kind I was looking for. Instead I found myself reading and skimming many of the articles which included minorities, Mormons and Indians. Interesting stuff. Not much manifest destiny like earlier books on the subject.

It would be a good introduction to western expansion for young adults as well as older folks.

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is an incredible reference about the westward expansion of the US and the people who lived it. This was printed a a companion to the PBS series. This large book is full of stories, facts and history.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the collaborative aspect of this work. The West developed as a combination of many efforts, and that's true of this book as well. Thorough, informative, and entertaining, this book functions perfectly as a short college seminar on The History of The American West. Love.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

hey, if you watch Deadwood you must look at this book to verify accuracy now and again.

[Dick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look at the author . . . you know you have a quality job in this book. Filled with photos of old time players and teams and a lot of stories.

[RYD · Rating 3 out of 5]

A kaleidoscope of stories about the settling of the west. I enjoyed most the parts about Spanish settlement before U.S. migration.

[Kathleen McRae · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures in this book are evocative and really add to the dialogue. A very interesting book!

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful photos and the layout is easy on the eyes

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this. I learned a lot of interesting things I hadn't known.

[Dad · Rating 3 out of 5]

PBS DVD. Interesting, but focused mostly on how the US took the land from the Indians. A sad time in our history.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read, re-read and read again.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great Western history book.