Atlas of the Great Plains

Abstract

Atlas of the Great Plains By Stephen J. Lavin, Fred M. Shelley, and J. Clark Archer Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2011. 352pp. 8 illustrations, 312 maps, 11 graphs. $39.99, ISBN 978-0-8032-1536-8.Atlas of the Great Plains is as ambitious as it is beautiful. The atlas fills a broadening gap in academic texts that describe and illustrate regions of the United States. Certainly, we have textbooks covering regions of the U.S. and coffee-table books with photographs of specific regions, but few regional geographies, in the classic sense, have been written in the last decade. Too often we must choose between attractive maps created by non-scientist designers and uninspiring maps created by academics without cartographic skills.Thematic atlases, too, are a lost art in American geography and related disciplines. They are either non-existent or authored by the popular press, which range from those found at the discount aisle of Barnes Be Noble to the two quirky atlases of San Francisco and New Orleans by journalist Rebecca Solnit.Infused with up-to-date understandings of social and natural science research, this new text aims to both provide a solid overview of the geography of the Great Plains, and to offer attractive, legible maps as evidence for this description.In the first goal, to offer a solid, vivid, description of the Great Plains, the atlas goes above and beyond. It chooses important topics to map and describe and organizes them in a manner that draws in the reader and avoids being another atlas that is just saying: "here are a bunch of pretty maps." The maps are there for a purpose and were clearly selected by those deeply familiar with the Great Plains region, its history and challenges ahead.These maps and descriptions provide an excellent source for those interested in material culture of the United States to better understand the historic and demographic context of their research. However, readers may be disappointed that few maps include cultural landscape elements (exceptions include auto racetracks and cell phone tower locations). In this area, the somewhat outdated, but groundbreaking, Atlas of the New West (Reibsame 1997) better integrated these elements in their examination of the changing culture and environment of the Western United States.Many of the most telling maps in the atlas are those that illustrate change over time. They include maps of the decline of bison range, shifts in crops, changes in employment, and decadal population density from 1810 to 2006. One fascinating map shows the census year of maximum population, illustrating in one map the decline of many central plains counties, but also the growth of the oil and gas and amenity-driven migration in the western edge of the plains.Also included are maps from Archer and Lavin's 2006 Historical Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Maps unique to this collection, yet reflective of the Great Plains, are maps illustrating the urban nature (and rarity) of symphony orchestras contrasted with the rural nature (and ubiquity) of rodeos. Maps of transportation and communication illustrate both the relative isolation and increasing connectivity of the Great Plains in the 21st century.In the second goal of the book, there is also much success. The maps are attractive and take advantage of digital technology to create maps that are crisp and clear, and move beyond the default ArcMap styles. In terms of the design, the authors made solid choices of color schemes, symbology, and fonts. …