What questions ought historians investigate to understand the twentieth-century West? In nine original essays, noted senior scholars Robert Cherny, Thomas Cox, Fred Erisman, Richard Etulain, Gene Gressley, Roger Lotchin, Gerald Nash, and Glenda Riley offer insightful suggestions to aid the study of modern western history. The opportunities for research advanced here are meant to be suggestive and open-ended, presenting new approaches and perspectives on a variety of topics. Some of the essays cover traditional areas such as economic, political, and cultural history; others examine the environment, cities, gender, and the myths of the West.An introduction and a conclusion offer masterful overviews of interpretations of the twentieth-century West. The individual essays also offer first-rate historiographic accounts that will interest students and specialists alike."This book will be important for a decade."—Martin Ridge