The small ears of corn once grown by Native Americans have now become row upon row of cornflakes on supermarket shelves. The immense seas of grass and herds of animals that supported indigenous people have turned into industrial agricultural operations with regular rows of soybeans, corn, and wheat that feed the world. But how did this happen and why? In A Rich and Fertile Land, Bruce Kraig investigates the history of food in America, uncovering where it comes from and how it has changed over time. From the first Native Americans to modern industrial farmers, Kraig takes us on a journey to reveal how people have shaped the North American continent and its climate based on the foods they craved and the crops and animals that they raised. He analyzes the ideas that Americans have about themselves and the world around them, and how these ideas have been shaped by interactions with their environments. He details the impact of technical innovation and industrialization, which have in turn created modern American food systems. Drawing upon recent evidence from the fields of science, archaeology, and technology, A Rich and Fertile Land is a unique and valuable history of the geography, climate, and food of the United States.

Horsley focuses on the contrasting environments within the state of Illinois and on the interactions of the inhabitants with their surroundings. He uses a standard Progressing from the physical and historical factors, through economic activities, concluding with chapters on Chicago and its suburbs. The text includes an urban-rural traverse across the state and a series of maps on presidential voting records by counties, 1960 to 1984.

"This book attempts to further the reader's understanding of Illinois in three ways. First, it contributes to an awareness of the state's landscape variety by emphasizing geographical patterns of environmnetal and human phenomena. Second, it illustrates the intimate relationships between human populations and their habitat in the state. Third, it traces the development of these landscapes and relationships through time in order to determine how the state's present land and life came to be. To supplement the written descriptions and analyses, well over a hundred maps are included in the book."--Preface page vii.

Explores the emergent threat of U.S. imperialism (1881 to 1895).