Survival of Rural America: Small Victories and Bitter Harvests |
Buy Survival of Rural America: Small Victories and Bitter Harvests here, one of 750 Kansas History books offered for sale at discount prices here in the history books section at R bookshop. There are currently 84417 history books in our history books section, and over 1,000,000 books listed in our book store. We greatly appreciate your patronage at R bookshop and look forward to offering you a large selection of great books at discount prices now and in the future. Thank you for shopping at R Bookshop!
|
You Are Here: Home > History Books > Kansas History > Item 53
|
Survival of Rural America: Small Victories and Bitter Harvests
|
by Richard E. Wood
Sales Rank: 148672

|
List Price: $34.95
$27.96
At Amazon on 8-4-2008.

|
|
|
|
Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 223 pages
Published by: University Press of Kansas March 25, 2008
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0700615776
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0700615773
Book Dimensions:
8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
Weighs: 14.4 ounces
Book Description
On the high plains of Kansas, the future of rural America is at stake.
Small farming communities are the heart and soul of America, but it's no secret that they're under siege. Family farms are disappearing and manufacturing is outsourced. Schools close, jobs vanish, and local stores can't survive. Some communities resort to giving away land just to get people to move there.
Richard Wood knows that rural communities need more than jobs or money to survive: they need to become valued again as desirable places to live. He takes a closer look at what has happened in several Kansas farming towns and shows that there is much more depth and diversity to rural life than meets the eye.
Wood traveled the back roads to gather stories of people in some of the most vulnerable communities that are trying to stave off depopulation. These are not just accounts of people scrambling to survive in incipient ghost towns like Ada, but gritty success stories like Plainville, where an upscale design business ignited a revival, or Atwood, which shifted from industrial recruitment to home-grown entrepreneurship.
Unlike Thomas Frank, whose What's the Matter with Kansas? used the state as a political yardstick, Wood sees it reflecting major economic and population trends throughout the world. Looking at projects as small as community medical clinics or plans for vast buffalo grassland parks, he also sees a robust future for small-town pioneers, folks who are betting their--and rural America's--future on such things as alternative energy (think "ethanol"), sustainable natural agriculture, tourism, and the enduring appeal of rural life to outsiders.
With dozens of photographs that bring rural America to life, Wood provides an inside look at what really makes this country tick--and at some of the developments that may turn the tide against what seemed an inevitable decline. Although the odds are stacked against rural recovery, the small victories that Wood shows us hold the promise that transformation and revival may yet stave off the final bitter harvest.
Back Cover Copy
"Setting out to find a rural America in decline, Richard Wood found instead a much more complex picture. He found a rural America that is neither fatalistic nor defeatist, places with much to offer those who live there."--David Danbom, author of "Born in the Country": A History of Rural America
"Wood's book is about more than Kansas. It's about community, lifestyle, and the very roots of America."--Jane Kolodinsky, codirector, Center for Rural Studies, University of Vermont
"Gives a unique look at rural communities and the internal and external conditions they confront, with humor, insight, and wisdom. I really like this book and think everyone should read it."--Cornelia Butler Flora, director, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development
Back To Top
|
Survival of Rural America: Small Victories and Bitter Harvests
Available from Amazon
Price: $27.96
Updated on 8-4-2008.

|
NOTICE: All prices, availability, and specifications
are subject to verification by their respective retailers.
| We offer Survival of Rural America: Small Victories and Bitter Harvests and other related Kansas History Books here at Rbookshop.com. To view more books about Kansas History please use the previous and next buttons near the top of this page.
|
|