Liberty Men and Great Proprietors

by Alan Taylor

Taylor's book is a major milepost that shows how far historians have come in exploring the significance of the frontier in American history. . . . It is a work of subtlety, complexity, and best of all, true discovery. The frontier landscape in Taylor's book . . . is inhabited by real people, who are full of conflicts and contradictions. By being sensitive to their economic, social, and spiritual aspirations, Taylor makes their world believable and meaningful. And perhaps most important, he reminds us that, no matter what kind of order proprietors and planners tried to impose on the landscape and the people themselves, the history of the American frontier has never been as neat as some people would like.