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The hypothesis advanced in Frederick Jackson Turner's famous 1893 essay, The Significance of the Frontier in American History, has been debated by three generations of scholars. The pioneering experience, Turner suggested, accounted for some of the distinctive characteristics of the American people: during three centuries of expansion their attitudes toward democracy, nationalism and individualism were altered, and they developed distinctively American traits, such as wastefulness, inventiveness, mobility, and a dozen more.

After opening with a summary of the appearance, acceptance, and subsequent dismissal of the theory, the author carefully defines the "frontier" and reviews recent evidence on its political, social, and economic characterstics.He discusses the compulsion to migrate and examines other behavioral patterns and traits in his explanation of how and why pioneers moved west. His extensive bibliographic notes constitute a remarkable guide to the literature of many disciplines dealing with the frontier concept. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Defense of the "Frontier Thesis," but only a Partly Successful One
Ray Allen Billington, who died in 1981, was one of the most prolific historians of his generation, and the major defender and reinterpreter of the "Frontier Thesis" of Frederick Jackson Turner. Turner's 1893 "Frontier Thesis" paper is perhaps the most influential essay ever read at the American Historical Association's annual conference. It has exerted a massive influence on the historiography of the United States, in no small measure because of its powerful statement of American exceptionalism and its justification of conquest. Turner took as his cue an observation in the 1890 U.S. census that the American frontier had, for the first time, closed. He noted, "Up to our own day American history has been in a large degree the history of the colonization of the Great West. The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development." He insisted that the frontier made Americans American, gave the nation its democratic character, and ensured the virtues of self-reliance, community, and the promise of justice. He noted that cheap or even free land provided a "safety valve" that protected the nation against uprisings of the poverty-stricken and malcontented. The frontier also produced a people with "coarseness and strength...acuteness and inquisitiveness, that practical and inventive turn of mind . . . [full of] restless and nervous energy...that buoyancy and exuberance which comes with freedom." It gave the people of the United States, in essence, virtually every positive quality they have ever possessed.

The "Frontier Thesis" has enjoyed both eloquent critics and defenders over the years. None of its defenders, however, has been more zealous than Ray Allan Billington and "America's Frontier Heritage" is his most mature statement on the subject. Turner never really applied his thesis to the test, but Billington invokes the work of historians, sociologists, economists, anthropologists, psychologists, demographers, and a host of other social scientists to "suggest logical means whereby three centuries of expansion did alter the behavioral patterns of the frontiersmen, and to a lessening degree of their descendents in the twentieth century" (p. xiii). Throughout Billington asserts the primacy of the "Frontier Thesis" in shaping American exceptionalism, despite his persistent chirping that he is not a "monocausationlist," not a very convincing statement when one explores this book's persistent pro-Turner bias.

A useful example of the manner in which Billington reinterprets the "Frontier Thesis" is his analysis of the labor safety valve. Turner suggested that the frontier provided a draw from the cities so that the burdens of class, economics, and other factors did not weigh on the development of United States the same way that it did in countries were the opportunity of the frontier did not exist. Numerous students have noted that this "safety valve" did not really exist, that most people who went to the frontier were not from the cities, etc. Billington accepts this reality, but notes that it was unimportant. The belief that it existed was enough, and it helped release pent up frustrations with the social order and prompted people not to turn in upon themselves, defusing jeopardy to the democratic fabric. The widespread sense that movement to the West "provided an escalator to the top of the social ladder that could not be duplicated in the East or Europe" helped ensure the democratic republic.

I first read this book in graduate school a quarter century ago as the most eloquent statement of the "Frontier Thesis." At that time the "New Western History" was just emerging and no one wanted to be called a "Turnerian." So I had to learn more about it, and I remember being impressed with Billington's eloquent defense of a provocative but ultimately overstretched explanation of the American character. Rereading it in the first part of the twenty-first century, I remain impressed with the work and how well it still explains many aspects of American history. Billington was sensitive to the contradictions and inconsistencies in the "Frontier Thesis" and usually found a way to smooth over them to create a generally convincing argument. In some instances he casts parts of the hypothesis overboard, but generally he modifies and amplifies to support Turner's basic ideas. There are now virtually no "Turnerians" left among historians, certainly none with the skill of Ray Allen Billington, but there are still aspects of the "Frontier Thesis" deserving of investigation. Among those, and Billington points them out, is the lack of a rigid class system, a faith in ordinary people and their will arrived at through democratic processes, and an emphasis on peaceful change. Turner and Billington believed those ideas sprang from the influence of the frontier on Americans. They are significant ideas regardless of their sources, and "America's Frontier Heritage" offers an enticing set of ideas about their evolution. It is not fully convincing, but it is interesting. ... Read more

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A collection of short stories continues the amplified history of the Bolo, a nearly indestructible tank/artificial intelligence that changes the shape of the galaxy, and includes the tale of a knight who is driven to the edge by those he protects. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Keith Laumer's Bolo Series, extended
The best-kept secret in science-fiction!Keith Laumer's Bolo series will rival anything you've read from Isaac Asimov or Robert Heinlein! In fact, it is so good that dozens of today's best science-fiction writers have put their skills to the test by attempting to add to the Bolo legacy. Those stories have been compiled into four volumes by David Weber (another great science-fiction writer). This particular volume, "The Triumphant", was in such demand that I could not find it at "AbeBooks" for less than $80!However, thanks to Amazon.com, I was able to get it for the affordable price of around $20!!

This book rocks
Another great book in the Bolos series.If you like these books check out David Drake's Mutineer's Moon series.

ABSOLUTELY SUPERB!
Bolo is, by far, the best science fiction series I've read, and book 3 is by far the best Bolo book. When you have a book that can shake all forms of emotions out of you, you know its good, and Bolos: The Triumphant does just that! There is an element for everyone in this book. There is plenty of action (heck, what do you expect from great military SF?), but there is also a boat load of wonderful emotion that gets the tears flowing. There are even some comical moments that can get a chuckle out of you. I find it to be very hard to find a story that has the ability to weave all types of emotion and action into one without sounding farfetched or stupid, but this one combines everything into one awesome package without ever dragging. You'll cry, you'll laugh, and you'll be up all night on the edge of your seat waiting for what happens next. David Weber and Linda Evans have really hit the bull's-eye with this one; The Triumphant is worth all your time and money. It is a true masterpiece, and that is really saying something.

Get ready to Rumble!
This one contains the classic Bolo against Bolo; Wriiten by no other than David Weber. Simply captivating, obsorbing and exciting! Imagine a Bolo Novel by Weber? Buy it, read it, write a review. Enjoy!

mother, friend, brother, and a hell 'ov alot of firepower
This is probably the best bolo book, why? Supose you had a friend or mother who could recite poetry, play wargames, explore the meanings of the univers and kick out megatons of damage!! that is a bolo and in this book you will see that even a "dead" bolo can figure out a way to get the job done. An interesting point in this book is that in all but one of the stories the bolo is either massively damaged or modified to the point of being considered combat ineffective and not all stories are happy. the technical readout in the back is a great bonus. A must for any bolo fan, and anyone who believes in the power of the heart be it a Bolo, a human, or a dog gone pup. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Glanzvolles Ende des neuen Zweiteilers
Der Abschlussband des Zweiteilers führt die Linie von „Ein neuer Krieg" konsequent fort und lässt die Geschehnisse auf einen, wenn auch voraussehbaren Höhepunkt zusteuern.
Die diplomatischen Beziehungen zwischen den einzelnen Sternennationen spitzen sich weiter zu und eskalieren letztendlich. Der Titel impliziert es bereits, es kommt zu einem neuen Krieg.
Seltsam ist es natürlich das die bisherigen Feinde (Haven), nun sehr positiv daherkommen (sieht man von einzelnen Subjekten der Regierung ab). Zwar kehrt Webber am Ende des Bandes zurück in die Ausgangsposition der Manticore Regierung, doch den Krieg können auch diese nicht mehr aufhalten.
Das Ende kommt ein wenig unglaubwürdig daher, wird doch nach und nach jeder innenpolitische Gegner abserviert. Und das sehr rigoros. Es ist anzunehmen, dass es in nächster Zeit keinen weiteren Harrington Band mit dem Hauptthema Innenpolitik gibt.
Alles in allem ein gelungener Band. Neue Allianzen werden geknüpft, alte Zerfallen. Mentalitäten werden näher gebracht und der Serienkosmos wird erweitert.
Aus diesem Grund 4 Punkte. ... Read more

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            Mike Gabrieli's brother Tom has always had one talent: getting into trouble. But this time, Tom has disappeared after mysteriously gaining possession of a priceless Aztec artifact. Mike sets out to find Tom, never suspecting that he is about to be shuttled back and forth in time, and between alternate universes. The descendants of the Incas have a plan to keep Pizarro and his conquistidors from overthrowing their ancestors’ empire. In spite of Mike’s sympathy for their cause, he faces the possibility that, instead of creating an alternate world with the Incas ascendant, he may be wiping out the world he was born into, and himself along with it.

            In addition to Fred Saberhagen’s novel, The Mask of the Sun, seven top writers have contributed stories set in the same universe. The contributors include New York Times best-selling authors David Weber and Harry Turtledove, as well as Walter Jon Williams, John Maddox Roberts, Jane Lindskold, and more, expanding on Fred Saberhagen’s concept and bringing their own perspectives to this volume of exciting alternate universe adventure. ... Read more

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One of the foremost historians of Lewis and Clark, Ronda grounds Finding the West in the insights and reflections he has gleaned from some twenty years of research and writing about this pivotal era. But above all else, Ronda’s book is centered on stories and storytellers. As he writes: “This is a book about many storytellers. Their words are French-Canadian, Shoshone, New Hampshire English, Hidatsa, and Chinookan.” Ronda documents not only the stories that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark offered about their “road across the continent,” but also the large and important stories by and about the native peoples whose trails they followed and whose lands they described in their journals and reports and on their maps.

The beginning of the nineteenth century represents a time when America passed into a headlong rush for empire and when “the West” loomed large as a dream for some and a nightmare for others, an era that irrevocably shaped the new American nation in the two hundred years that followed. Whoever the storyteller in the aftermath of that encounter—native or newcomer—the stories all soon revolved around a common theme: the coming of the winds of change.

Ronda’s masterful interpretation of the young Republic’s fascination with the West is written with grace, narrative sweep, and a conviction that history should, above all else, engage and inform us.

“This is a really outstanding, important work.”—Professor John L. Allen, University of Wyoming ... Read more

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Revealing the extent to which scholars are seeking to understand both current and historical issues through the sociology of Max Weber, this book reaffirms and extends the enduring relevance of Weber's thought to contemporary cultural and political questions.Through a thematic structure designed to expose a variety of ways in which Weber's work matters with reference to a given subject, it comprises methodological reflection on Weber's historical sociology, as well as the application and testing of his ideal types in historical enquiry, often to areas that have not yet been approached in this way.With its focus on both the practical application of Weber's thought as well as his philosophical legacy, "Max Weber Matters" will be of interest to scholars across a range of disciplines, including historians, sociologists, political scientists and social theorists. ... Read more

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A Great Biography of a Giant in Pennsylvania Politics
David Lawrence, Governor of Pennsylvania from 1959-1963 and longtime Democratic Party leader in Pittsburgh, and to a lesser extent statewide, is the subject of this biography.While he directed the Pittsburgh Democratic Party for decades before serving as Pittsburgh's Mayor for 13 years and then capping his career as our Governor for four years, the one thing he refused to be called was "boss."While he was a leader, he refused to be considered by others as a boss, hence the title of this book.

Lawrence literally grew up in politics, volunteering in his first campaign at the age of nine.He performer various, mostly gopher and literature distribution tasks for the Democratic Party during the dark era when the Democratic Party was barely functioning.Lawrence rose to chair the Pittsburgh Democratic Party where he strove to create a political operation.Times were not good for Democrats: they would even lose the minority Jury Commissioner's seat to an independent candidate.At times, the electoral futility of the local Democrats would lead to calls for a new party chairman.Yet Lawrence held on for an important reason: no one else wanted to spend the amount of time Lawrence did in being the party chairman.

Lawrence brought slow but mixed successes to the Democratic Party.In 1929, he proudly announced that Democrats finally had enough supporters to place poll watchers at every Allegheny County precinct.On the negative side, the number of Democratic Party registrants fell in half while Lawrence was county chairman before it began increasing again.Lawrence even admitted that the Democratic organization frequently cooperated with the dominant Republican Party at times in return for patronage positions.Patronage then was very important, as half of the 5,200 registered Democrats in Allegheny County in the late 1920s held political jobs.

Two important events would shape politics, and with them, Lawrence's life.First, Republicans even back then were dishonest, as it was exposed that Republicans had illegally registered about 50,000 voters.This led the public to correctly identify the Republican Party as the party of corruption.Second, the election of Franklin Roosevelt and the efforts of Democratic Party's New Deal social programs to save America from depression transformed American politics.It would help David Lawrence's career that he was an early FDR supporter and that his work for Democrats won him much regard.

Following Roosevelt's election in 1932, George Earle became the first Democrat elected Governor in Pennsylvania since 1894.David Lawrence became Democratic State Chairman.In addition, Governor Earle selected Lawrence to serve as Secretary of the Commonwealth, which was a highly influential policy office.It also found Lawrence divided between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, as Lawrence continue to lead the Allegheny County Democrats.Meanwhile, Roosevelt's WPA program brought $70 million to Allegheny County, of which 80% of that went towards wages, brining many people out of the depression into employment.Soon, Democratic registration surpassed Republican registration in Pittsburgh.Lawrence is credited with building a powerful local Democratic Party organization, and it is noted that Republicans never won a major election in Pittsburgh from 1938 through 1966, when Lawrence died.

In Harrisburg, Lawrence was placed in charge of getting legislative approval of Governor Earle's Little New Deal proposals.Earle and Lawrence fortunately had cooperative Democratic House legislators, as the House had its first Democratic majority in half a century.Lawrence saw to it that the House Steering Committee consisted of members who supported the Little New Deal.Lawrence attended most House and Senate legislative sessions, sitting at the side with a vacant chair, where he provided his advice, often to a legislator sitting in the no longer vacant chair.Lawrence would call regular legislative caucuses where he would explain the Governor's, and the Democratic Party's, positions on issues facing them.

Lawrence, though, not only disliked being called a boss, he did not act like one. Caucus meetings were considered a place of free and open exchange. He allowed dissent, so long as the dissenting legislator had a good reason. Yet, it is noted that Lawrence usually got his way.If there was dissent, a controversial bill was tabled until passage could be secured later.It is noted most of the Earle-Lawrence legislation was passed the House.Yet, most of it was then defeated by the Senate, which still had a Republican majority.

Major legislative battles resulted over how to handle Pennsylvania's depression-era budget.The Chamber of Commerce projected that state government would require a $326 million budget in 1935-36 with projected revenues of $148 million, leaving a gap of$178 million that was even greater than revenues.Further, the Federal government required state government to provide $120 million in relief in order to continue qualified for Federal assistance.State Senator and Republican State Chairman Harvey Taylor announced that Senate Republicans would agree to only provide the Federal government with $57 million.Long negotiations provided for a 6% tax on corporate income and increased taxes on utilities, gas, cigarettes, and amusements.

Democrats gained control of both legislative chambers in the 1936 elections.The Little New Deal, in what is considered as the greater era of liberal legislative in Pennsylvania's history, was passed.365 of Governor Earle's 371 proposals were enacted with Lawrence's help.Administration bills would appear in pink folders so legislators would know they came from the Governor.Major legislation allowing collective bargaining, providing teacher tenure, creating a Department of Public Assistance, protecting employee rights, creating the Labor Relations Board, providing slum clearance and public housing, outlawing unfair bank practices, and creating the nation's first turnpike all became law.

On the negative side, Lawrence began a life-long feud with Attorney General Charles Margiotti.Margiotti accused Lawrence of illegally requiring county Democratic Party organizations to raise funds from patronage workers.Although Lawrence would be found not guilty after the fall elections, the scandal helped the Republicans return to power on election day.Lawrence was removed as Democratic State Chairman.

Personal tragedy would changed Lawrence's life and career.After two of his sons were killed in an automobile accident, Lawrence threw himself back into his work.He sought and regained his position as Democratic State Committee.While working to keep Democratic factions together, it was discovered the only candidate for Pittsburgh Mayor agreeable to the major factions was himself.Lawrence then ran for, and was elected, Mayor.

Lawrence set up to become a great Mayor.He met privately with New York's famed Machiavellian local policy maker Robert Moses for ideas on how to succeed.As Mayor, he spent many hours negotiating labor contracts and in dealing with disgruntled council members.He worked hard for flood control programs and lobbied hard for a dam that finally began construction in 1949.He fought the air quality problem by requiring the use of smokeless coal, knowing that this would, and did, cause many voters to turn against him when they were forced to pay more for this coal.Lawrence guided the Lower Hill redevelopment program which, at the time, was the largest such project undertaken although without a past for guidelines, resulted in mixed opinions of success.As Mayor, Lawrence implemented the Civic Unity Council to handle incidences of racial and religious discrimination.While this early Council had limited effectiveness, it was groundbreaking and would lead Lawrence to a later Presidential appointment.

In 1958, David Lawrence was elected Governor.After observing the previous Governor's struggles with the legislature, Governor Lawrence worked more towards legislative cooperation.For instance, he won legislative approval to increase the sales tax by agreeing to exemptions that legislators wanted.He won successes in balancing the state budget, establishing medical care for low income senior citizens, creating a law that registered and regulated lobbyists, prohibiting billboards besides interstate highways, and strengthening air pollution laws and fair employment laws. Interestingly, Lawrence maintained his Pittsburgh ties and would return to Pittsburgh most weekends to continue serving as Chairman of the Urban Redevelopment Authority.Lawrence was proud that he inherited a state budget deficit and ended his term as Governor with a $16.6 billion surplus in Fiscal Year 1961-62.Yet, to his chagrin, the taxes he raised in order to achieve this became a campaign issue that helped elected Republican Bill Scranton over Democrat Richardson Dilworth as Governor in 1962.

David Lawrence urged John Kennedy to select Lyndon Johnson as his 1960 running mate and even game the nominating speech for Johnson at the Democratic National Convention.In 1963, President Kennedy named Lawrence to chair the President's Committee on Equal Opportunity in Housing.Lawrence found this work frustrating at times as it would not be until after his death that the anti-discriminatory commercial housing lending practices he argued for would be adopted.

David Lawrence had a great career of ups and downs throughout several of Pennsylvania's political eras.In sum, he ranks as one of the great political giants in state history.Just don't say he was a boss.

An in depth and insightful book
Most often some of the most influential men in politics are ignored.This book on David L. Lawrence shows how important the man was to changing the way Pittsburgh and cities did businesses.Kudos to Mr. Weber on thisbiography of one of the finest mayors of the 20th century. ... Read more

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Choice, Persuasion, and Coercion brings together twelve original essays on Spain’s presence in North America to understand the circumstances and application of social control. “Social control” refers to the use of coercion particularly in response to what dominant groups consider deviant behavior among subordinates. Spain attempted to maintain control of vast areas through persuasion, coercion, or indoctrination to make subordinates accept colonial government and behave according to Spanish expectations.

This volume considers how Spain’s monarchs faced competing economic, political, and racial interests. In the New World, others besides the rulers, authorities, and elites sought to effect social control. Ethnic groups and socio-economic classes within colonial communities also exercised control within their own circles. Institutions including the Church, schools, fraternal organizations, and families labored to teach their members to understand their place in society.

An examination of social control mechanisms shows how groups and individuals, including native peoples, formed and understood their options in response to colonial rule. These essays seek to understand how people negotiated their relationships with the Spanish state and institutions, and with each other, while conceiving of the frontier region as an incubator of cultural and economic interactions ranging from acceptance to rejection of European norms, often altering those norms in the process.

Published in cooperation with the Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University

Contributors:

Juliana Barr is assistant professor at the University of Florida.
Susan M. Deeds is professor of history at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff.
José Cuello directed the Center for Chicano-Boricua Studies at Wayne State University in Detroit from 1989 through 2001.
Gilbert C. Din is professor emeritus, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado.
Alfredo Jiménez is professor emeritus in the department of American History, Universidad de Sevilla.
Jane Landers is associate dean of the College of Arts & Science, and associate professor of history at Vanderbilt University
Patricia Osante is a researcher in the Historical Institute of Research and coordinates the Northern Mexican History Seminar at the same university.
Cynthia Radding is Director of the Latin American and Iberian Institute at the University of New Mexico.
James A. Sandos is Farquhar Professor of the Southwest at the University of Redlands in southern California.
Cecilia Sheridan Prieto works as researcher in the Saltillo, Coahuila, branch of the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social. ... Read more