A Companion to American Agricultural History

The contributors to this book constitute a gathering of younger and established scholars who have written accessible, state-of-the-field essays on a multiplicity of topics to provide readers with an introduction to their subject.  Each essay offers readers a place to begin their own pursuit of American agricultural history whether in general or regarding the subject under consideration.  This collection of thirty-one original essays and an extensive bibliography will enable readers to gain an understanding of American agricultural history across region and time as well as focus on specific subjects, themes, and issues. 

The contents of these essays begin at 8,000 BCE and range to the third decade of the twenty-first century.  Specifically, they provide a narrative summary and a critical examination of the historical works upon which the authors have based their assessments.  The essays offer a comprehensive overview of critical areas in American agricultural history.  As such, they will prove useful for introductory students, experienced scholars, and general readers as well as teachers, journalists, public officials, and policy makers who want a brief survey of specific topics in field-defining essays in American agricultural history. 

This book will provide a succinct and solid foundation for understanding American agricultural history and offer new insights and fresh, innovative directions and ideas for further research.  It is a superb reference for the topics discussed.  Moreover, this collection provides an assessment of nearly a century of scholarship written by historians, political scientists, economists, geographers, anthropologists, sociologists, and environmentalists, among others to constitute a book of essays that is foundational to the study of American agricultural history.              

This book will enable all readers to understand the integral importance of our agricultural past to the American experience.

R. DOUGLAS HURT is a Professor of History at Purdue University. He served as President of the Agricultural History Society and is a former editor of Agricultural History, Missouri Historical Review, and Ohio History. Professor Hurt is the author and editor of numerous books including American Agriculture: A Brief History and Food and Agriculture during the Civil War.