Dec 26, 2009

Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water | Summary

Cadillac Desert begins with the author’s description of the American West as ‘‘a civilization whose success was achieved on the pretension that natural obstacles do not exist’’—or, as he calls it in the first chapter, ‘‘A Semidesert with a Desert Heart.’’ Reisner introduces the environmentalist agenda through which he explores the history of development in the West, following its major influences individually through time rather than chronologically.

Discovering and Pioneering the American West
The book’s opening chapters describe the...