Rarely recognized outside its boundaries today, the Pacific Northwest region known at the turn of the century as the Inland Empire included portions of the states of Washington and Idaho, as well as British Columbia. Katherine G. Morrissey traces the history of this self-proclaimed region from its origins through its heyday. In doing so, she challenges the characterization of regions as fixed places defined by their geography, economy, and demographics. Regions, she argues, are best understood as mental constructs, internally defined through conflicts and debates among different groups of people seeking to control a particular area's identity and direction. She tells the story of the Inland Empire as a complex narrative of competing perceptions and interests.
Katherine G. Morrissey is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Arizona.
What People are Saying About This
D. W. Meinig
A penetrating, provocative look from the inside at the creation and contestation of regionalism that will give the 'ghostly' Inland Empire new vitality and fame among readers concerned with the rich complexities of a more fully human geography.
Patricia Nelson Limerick
Katherine Morrissey's approach is fresh and distinctive, the scale of the research is enormous, and the case studies and brief biographies are both engaging and instructive. Most important, this book bridges the gap that usually separates the world of social history from the world of elite intellectual history.
