Mental Territories

A thought-provoking work... The book's rich sources, entertaining case studies and eccentric characters make a lively and readable work.

* Australasian Journal of American Studies *

An example of fine interdisciplinary scholarship that draws on a wealth of theoretical support and on an impressive array of primary sources, Mental Territories may be considered a model of a new approach to regional history and geography... It is a book that I will recommend to colleagues and students looking for deeper ways of understanding America's regional diversity.

* Journal of American History *

A model case study of the nature of boosterism that was central to the aspirations of many of the West's would-be metropolitan centers. Morrissey's liberal use of a fascinating series of promotional maps and illustrations amply documents that municipal passion.... Mental Territories is a valuable study, and not just for a single community and subregion. It takes an in-depth look at the intellectual process itself and thus offers students of the West a good example of the analytical tools that can be used to examine municipal boosterism and the perceptual construction of region.

* Western Historical Quarterly *

Mental Territories is an intellectual history.... This book is beautifully written.... The best history combines thoughtful analysis, fine writing, and good storytelling—and Morrissey excels at all three.

* Pacific Northwest Quarterly *

Mental Territories offers a fresh focus on a part of the country that has long been outside the American mainstream.

* Reviews in American History *

Morrissey's book is a synthesis drawn from an extensive geographic literature that ranges from mental mapping and perceptual geographies to exhaustive regional studies.... Good bibliography of primary and secondary sources.

* Choi