{"product_id":"camping-grounds-public-nature-in-american-life-from-the-civil-war-to-the-occupy-movement-9780195372410","title":"Camping Grounds: Public Nature in American Life from the Civil War to the Occupy Movement","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn exploration of the hidden history of camping in American life that connects a familiar recreational pastime to camps for functional needs and political purposes.  Camping appears to be a simple proposition  a time-honored way of getting away from it all. Pack up the car and hit the road in search of a shady spot in the great outdoors. For a modest fee  reserve the basic infrastructure--a picnic table  a parking spot  and a place to build a fire. Pitch the tent and unroll the sleeping bags. Sit under the stars with friends or family and roast some marshmallows. This book reveals that  for all its appeal  the simplicity of camping is deceptive  its history and meanings far from obvious.  Why do some Americans find pleasure in sleeping outside  particularly when so many others  past and present  have had to do so for reasons other than recreation? Never only a vacation choice  camping has been something people do out of dire necessity and as a tactic of political protest. Yet the dominant interpretation of camping as a modern recreational ideal has obscured the connections to these other roles. A closer look at the history of camping since the Civil War reveals a deeper significance of this American tradition and its links to core beliefs about nature and national belonging.  Camping Grounds rediscovers unexpected and interwoven histories of sleeping outside. It uses extensive research to trace surprising links between veterans  tramps  John Muir  African American freedpeople  Indian communities  and early leisure campers in the nineteenth century; tin-can tourists  federal campground designers  Depression-era transients  family campers  backpacking enthusiasts  and political activists in the twentieth century; and the crisis of the unsheltered and the tent-based Occupy Movement in the twenty-first. These entwined stories show how Americans camp to claim a place in the American republic and why the outdoors is critical to how we relate to nature  the nation  and each other.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45666240725045,"sku":"ByrdShop_0195372417","price":22.03,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780195372410.jpg?v=1782424608","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/camping-grounds-public-nature-in-american-life-from-the-civil-war-to-the-occupy-movement-9780195372410","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}