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Born in the Country

A History of Rural America

David B. Danbom

third edition
Publication Date
Binding Type

The definitive history of life in rural America.

Throughout most of its history, America has been a rural nation, largely made up of farmers. David B. Danbom's Born in the Country was the first—and still is the only—general history of rural America. Ranging from pre-Columbian times to the enormous changes of the twentieth century, the book masterfully integrates agricultural, technological, and economic themes with new questions about the American experience.

Danbom employs the stories of particular farm families to illustrate the experiences of rural people. This substantially revised and...

The definitive history of life in rural America.

Throughout most of its history, America has been a rural nation, largely made up of farmers. David B. Danbom's Born in the Country was the first—and still is the only—general history of rural America. Ranging from pre-Columbian times to the enormous changes of the twentieth century, the book masterfully integrates agricultural, technological, and economic themes with new questions about the American experience.

Danbom employs the stories of particular farm families to illustrate the experiences of rural people. This substantially revised and updated third edition

• expands and deepens its coverage of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries
• focuses on the changes in agriculture and rural life in the progressive and New Deal eras as well as the massive shifts that have taken place since 1945
• adds new information about African American and Native American agricultural experiences
• discusses the decline of agriculture as a productive enterprise and its impact on farm families and communities
• explores rural culture, gender issues, agriculture, and the environment
• traces the relationship among farmers, agribusiness, and consumers

In a new and provocative concluding chapter, Danbom reflects on increasing consumer disenchantment with and resistance to modern agriculture as well as the transformation of rural America into a place where farmers are a shrinking minority. Ultimately, he asks whether a distinctive style of rural life exists any longer.

Reviews

Reviews

A delightful story tracing the social history of U.S. farmers. The book details the attitudes and social life of farm people—how they looked at themselves and how the rest of society saw them.

An extremely well-written narrative that presents its information accurately. Danbom's book can well serve the classroom teacher and general reader.

A highly readable and useful survey.

An accessible text for general scholarship and undergraduate courses.

A balanced economic, social, political, and technological history of rural America. [Born in the Country] is a splendid book, rich with detail and complex in argument. A superb introduction to American history.

About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
304
ISBN
9781421423357
Illustration Description
10 b&w photos
Table of Contents

Preface to the Third Edition
Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the First Edition
1. Rural Europe and Pre-Columbian America
2. The Rural Development of English North America
3. Maturity and Its

Preface to the Third Edition
Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the First Edition
1. Rural Europe and Pre-Columbian America
2. The Rural Development of English North America
3. Maturity and Its Discontents
4. Agriculture and Economic Growth in the Young Republic
5. Rural Life in the Young Nation
6. The Unmaking and Remaking of the Rural South
7. Rural America in the Age of Industrialization
8. Prosperity and Its Discontents
9. From the Best of Times to the Worst
10. The New Deal and Rural America
11. The Production Revolution and the New Agriculture
12. Agriculture and Rural Life in the Twenty-First Century
Notes
Suggestions for Further Reading
Index

Author Bio
David B. Danbom
Featured Contributor

David B. Danbom, Ph.D.

David B. Danbom is a professor of history at North Dakota State University, Fargo. His books include The Resisted Revolution: Urban America and the Industrialization of Agriculture, 1900–1930.