Indians, Cowboys, and Farmers, and the Battle for the Great Plains

1865–1910

By: Christopher Collier, James Lincoln Collier

Narrated by: Jim Manchester

Length: 2 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

This is American history at its most basic. Believing that students get "lost in a swamp of factual information", the Colliers survey the essential concepts of settling the Great Plains, without a great deal of detail. For example, in describing the sequence of events that led to the Grattan Massacre, there is no mention of date, location, or names of the people involved. Without prior knowledge, listeners would not know it was the Grattan Massacre. Topics addressed include Native American history prior to contact with whites and conflicts with settlers and the military, ranching and cowboys, railroads, and reform movements that sought to help farmers and regulate big business. While the focus of this book is on political and institutional history, it does mention the contributions of women and minorities. References to other books in the series that further explain a topic are scattered throughout the text.

©1997 Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier (P)2013 AudioGO

A nice overview

In the beginning of this book it explains that it's not trying to bury the reader/listener with information, but give the highlighted details in a way that can be retained. As a historian, I felt that there were a number of bias statements, though they're consistent with the misappropriation of facts taught in public schools. Overall, it is well done and works as an educational blanket overview of an expansive range of time. Generally speaking, I would recommend this as a way to glance at what happened.

The seemingly endless accounts of abuses towards farmers by big business, banks, and such was my favorite part of this book. People like J.P. Morgan aren't displayed nearly enough as villainous historical characters. A lot of tycoons did purely evil things in their pursuit of wealth & still do. Again, the presentation of this book and material at large is well put together.

Exceptional Short Lesson on American Great Plains

This is one of the best series on American History that I've come across and its suitable for more than children. The comprehensive way in which Indians, Cowboys, Farmers and the settlement of the Great Plains of America came about is described in an honest and appropriate way that anyone can understand. It ties in the relevance of the history of this time frame in American history to what happened afterward. This would be an excellent resource for homeschooling parents. I can't wait to explore more in this amazing series.

just the right size

size matters in the digital age and my age. just as the author envisioned this series serves the listener s well with its selective focus and brevity, meanwhile keep the contour and connectivity. well done on my way to next book of the series

GREAT 📖 BOOK

This was a great 📚 read.
Great information
100% I would recommend all to read.
It was wonderful

Impact of the Great Planes

A great overview of the American great plains and the effects living there and working there had on the United States

Biased & Contains Some Inaccuracies

Interesting book, but the authors definitely have an anti-free market and statist bias.

I also found several inaccuracies, which for me, cast doubt on the academic accuracy of the entire book.

For example, the description of how the Colt revolver operates is glaringly incorrect. The description reads, “the force of each shot revolved the cylinder to bring a new bullet into place behind the barrel.” Anyone who knows anything about the basic operation of a single-action revolver knows that the cocking action of the hammer, performed manually by the shooter’s thumb, is what rotates the cylinder to bring the new bullet into place—not the force of the previous shot.

I can tolerate some degree of bias (all books have bias), but I won’t waste my time reading books with glaring inaccuracies.