A Companion to the American West is a rigorous, illuminating introduction to the history of the American West. Twenty-five essays by expert scholars synthesize the best and most provocative work in the field. Each essay covers a subtopic of western American history, its major concerns, and its major works to provide a comprehensive overview of themes and historiography. The essays not only come from the perspective of the "new western history," reflecting a resurgence in both scholarly and public interest in the region, but also reflect other schools and positions, such as ethnic studies, cultural studies, and subfields of environmental and gender history. The Companion covers such topics as industrialism, women, Native Americans, exploration, religion, politics, and art. Also included is a combined bibliography to aid further research. The essays are lively, well written, and suited to the student, scholar, and all interested readers of the history of the American West.

This volume of original essays by leading scholars is an innovative, thorough introduction to the history and culture of California from its inception to the present day. Written by both senior scholars and new voices in the field as well as non-academic subject specialists, the essays range widely across perspectives, including political, social, economic, and environmental history. The volume's unique structure pairs and groups essays that are similar in approach and conception so they work both as individual pieces and also as companions to each other throughout the text. Emerging out of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, a new research and teaching project associated with the Huntington Library and the University of Southern California, the Companion to California History is a valuable resource for students and researchers of the history of the Golden State.