Prairie Fever: British Aristocrats in the American West 1830-1890 [Paperback]

A deeply researched and finely delivered look at what can best be described as a counterintuitive slice of American history. A lostand deeply weirdworld . . . has been lovingly excavated and brought back to life. Mr. Pagnamenta tells this story with verve and style. His love of tales of derring-do on the prairie matches his subjects . . . a constant delight. Astute, detached, droll, and elegantly put together . . . an exemplary cross-cultural study. Something of the magic of the Great West  its big skies and great rivers and prairies filled with game  can be found in Peter Pagnamenta's compelling narrative of the mania for the prairie grasslands that swept British aristocrats in the middle of the 19th century. Grand solitary travelers came first and their tales of adventure brought scores and then hundreds of others  lords and younger sons needing a way to live and retired military officers and men hoping to get rich and sportsmen who wanted a grizzly and dreamers who imagined a ranching kingdom might end boredom once and for all. It's an extraordinary story, told inUS