The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia

About this book

This first-ever encyclopedia of the Midwest seeks to embrace this large and diverse area to give it voice and help define its distinctive character. Organized by topic it encourages readers to reflect upon the region as a whole. Each section moves from the general to the specific covering broad themes in longer introductory essays filling in the details in the shorter entries that follow. There are portraits of each of the regions twelve states followed by entries on society and culture community and social life economy and technology and public life. The book offers a wealth of information about the regions surprising ethnic diversitya vast array of foods languages styles religions and customsplus well-informed essays on the regions history culture and values and conflicts. A site of ideas and innovations reforms and revivals and social and physical extremes the Midwest emerges as a place of great complexity signal importance and continual fascination.