This two-volume work is broad in scope with a few identified boundaries, namely geography, discipline, and chronology. Danver explains, “the principle focus of this work is the twentieth-century transformation of Western politics and how that transformation has led to the emerging political patterns of the twenty-first century” (xxiii). Coverage of the American West extends from the Great Plains to the TransPacific West (Alaska, California, and Hawaii).

The encyclopedia is divided into three sections: “Western Political Themes,” “Western Regions and States,” and “A-Z Entries.” There is also an appendix that includes forty-eight primary documents. Efforts were made to enhance usability, as each volume includes an index, entry listing, and reader’s guide with categorized entries. The content is readily accessible and clearly written for a general readership. The entries do include useful updates to existing resources, with examples including the Occupy Movement, Sarah Palin, and the Tea Party Movement. However, several entries are overly general and not fully fleshed out—an example being a seven paragraph entry on education that begins with the founding fathers and closes with the late twentieth century.

It is worth noting the four identified political themes as they set the stage for comparison. Themes include levels of government, immigration and migration, natural resources and the environment, and rural West and urbanization. This work inhabits a complicated space as it is interdisciplinary and much of the content can be found in reference works from disciplines such as environmental studies, Native American studies, Latin American studies, and US history. On the flip side, it is a solid one-stop reference resource for undergraduates, particularly those new to college level research.

According to Danver, “although this is not explicitly historical work, the line between politics and political history is really nonexistent” (xxiv). This passage immediately brought to mind Michael Kazin’s (ed.) Princeton Encyclopedia of Political History (Princeton, 2010) and Andrew W. Robinson’s (ed.) Encyclopedia of US Political History (CQ Press, 2010). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Political History is dense, scholarly in tone, and focuses on political processes and players while the Encyclopedia of Politics of the American West is more general and inclusive. For instance, Kazin includes a few sentences about the Japanese American Internment and no index entry while Danver includes a dedicated entry with a photograph and several index entries. Encyclopedia of Politics of the American West is most similar to Encyclopedia of US Political History in terms of style and accessibility, which is not surprising as they are both from CQ Press. However, Danver can’t compete with Robinson’s seven volume set that covers all regions of the United States from the colonial period to the present day.

Ideally, a companion Encyclopedia of Politics of the American East would round out this work. If similar in pricing the two together would be more affordable than the Encyclopedia of US Political History and be a welcome addition to many collections. As it stands, this encyclopedia will best serve small liberal arts colleges and community colleges in the West or colleges and universities that have regional studies programs.