"As conflicts over resource extraction erupt across the world, a dive into one such fight in Minnesota reveals how these are cultural and political struggles about place, identity, and collective memory that complicate economy versus environment narratives and are tied to broader class and rural-urban divisions, and resurgent right-wing populism"--

Cultural historian Jeff Biggers takes us to the dark amphitheatre ruins of his familys nearly 200 - year - old hillside homestead that has been strip - mined on the edge of the first federally recognized Wilderness Site in southern Illinois. In doing so' he not only comes to grips with his own denied backwoods heritage' but also chronicles a dark and missing chapter in the American experience; the historical nightmare of coal outside of Appalachia' serving as an expos of a secret legacy of shame and resiliency.

This is a lively history of three Rocky Mountain states in the twentieth century. With the sure hand of an experienced writer and the engaging voice of a veteran storyteller, the well-known historian Duane Smith recounts the major social, political, and economic events of the period with verve and zest. It is obvious that Smith is thoroughly familiar with his subject and has a genuine enthusiasm for the history of the region. Written with the general reader in mind, Rocky Mountain Heartland will appeal to students, teachers, and Òarmchair historiansÓ of all ages. This is the colorful saga of how the Old West became the New West. Beginning at the end of the nineteenth century and concluding after the turn of the twentyfirst, Rocky Mountain Heartland explains how Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming evolved over the course of the century. Smith is mindful of all the factors that propelled the region: mining, agriculture, water, immigration, tourism, technology, and two world wars. And he points out how the three states responded in varying ways to each of these forces. Although this is a regional story, Smith never loses sight of the national events that influenced events in the region. As Smith skillfully shows, the vast natural resources of the three states attracted optimistic, hopeful Americans intent on getting rich, enjoying the outdoors, or creating new lives for themselves and their families. How they resolved these often conflicting goals is the modern story of the Rocky Mountain region.

Owing to their unique magnetic, phosphorescent, and catalytic properties, rare earths are the elements that make possible teverything from the miniaturization of electronics, to the enabling of green energy and medical technologies, to supporting essential telecommunications and defense systems. An iPhone uses eight rare earths for everything from its colored screen, to its speakers, to the miniaturization of the phone?s circuitry. On the periodic table rare earth elements comprise a set of seventeen chemical elements (the fifteen lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium). There would be no Pokémon Go without rare earths. Rare Earth Frontiers is a work of human geography. Klinger looks historically and geographically at the ways rare earth elements in three discrete but representative and contested sites are given meaning.

This book is framed by four over-arching narratives of inquiry. While all four are firmly anchored in Australia’s political milieu – and as such are of considerable interest to a range of actors therein (scholars and students, the media, the political class) – they will also be of interest to a global audience. First, ideation. More specifically, what is the nature of populist politics in Australia, why does it consistently resonate with particular electoral demographics, what is the basis of its appeal over and above electoral cycles, and how should we position it in relation to more familiar concepts such as democracy, nationalism and progressive-conservative politics? Second, election. Despite the disparaging tone that the mainstream media can sometimes adopt when discussing electoral outcomes for right-populism and Hanson in particular, why does right-populism consistently resonate with particular electoral demographics, characterized by various criteria – geographic, social class, gender? How does populism play out in electoral cycles, and how do mainstream political parties capitalize on it for political gain? Third, policy and politics. Much to the disappointment of many, right-populism in Australia generally and PHONP in particular has been influential in policy formulation across a range of domains. These include Indigenous policy and reconciliation, immigration and international relations, industry policy, and the politics of gender. Taking a broader perspective, how does the resurgence of right-populism in Australia today differ from two decades ago, and is the polity, generally speaking, shifting to the right? Fourth, Australia’s right-populism from a comparative international perspective. More specifically, what are the similarities and differences between right-populism in Australia on the one hand and in Europe and the US on the other, and are we justified in concluding, however tentatively, that the rise of right-populism is similar across these polities?

It is Sunday, August 28, 2016, two weeks before the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11. Events occurring during these two weeks will determine whether this anniversary day will usher in a world at peace or a world at war. Al Qaeda has a nuclear weapon and intends to detonate it in Oklahoma City–the heartland of America–to prove that they can strike anywhere with impunity, thus making them the legitimate leaders of Islam having the right to enforce their version of God's messages to Muhammad from the Archangel Gabriel, the radical "kill all non-believers" interpretation of the meaning of the Quran. They are certain that striking the heartland in this manner will ensure that no one will ever dare to challenge their authority. Is this belief reality or abject stupidity? If al Qaeda's plan is successful, will it lead instead to vengeance in the form of a nuclear holocaust in the Middle East, the demise of Islam, and genocide for Muslims?

From 1900 until the early 1920s, an unusual community existed in America's heartland-Buxton, Iowa. Originally established by the Consolidation Coal Company, Buxton was the largest unincorporated coal mining community in Iowa. What made Buxton unique, however, is the fact that the majority of its 5,000 residents were African Americans—a highly unusual racial composition for a state which was over 90 percent white. At a time when both southern and northern blacks were disadvantaged and oppressed, blacks in Buxton enjoyed true racial integration—steady employment, above-average wages, decent housing, and minimal discrimination. For such reasons, Buxton was commonly known as “the black man's utopia in Iowa.” Containing documentary evidence—including newspapers, census records, photographs, and state mining reports—along with interviews of 75 former residents, Buxton: Work and Racial Equality in a Coal Mining Community (originally published in 1987 and winner of the 1988 Benjamin Shambaugh Award) explored the Buxton experience from a variety of perspectives. The authors—an American historian, a family sociologist, and a race relations sociologist—provided a truly interdisciplinary history of one Iowa's most unique communities. Now, eighty years after the town's demise and fifteen years after Buxton's original publication, the history of this Iowa town remains a compelling story that continues to capture people's imaginations. In Buxton: A Black Utopia in the Heartland, the authors offer further reflections upon their original study and the many former Buxton residents who shared their memories. In the new essay, “A Buxton Perspective,” issues such as social class and the town's continuing legacy are addressed. The voices captured inBuxton, although recorded over twenty years ago, still resonate with exuberance, affection, and poignancy; this expanded edition will bring their amazing stories back to the forefront of Iowa and American history.