In the American imagination, the Midwest is a region of hard-working people: thrifty, devoted to family values, strong in character, middle-of-the-road, sedate and cautious in nature. "The American Midwest" seeks to embrace this vast area, to give it voice, and to help define its complex, distinctive character. It is a place of silos and skyscrapers, railroads and riverboats, farms and factories. Even if you are a casual browser, you will discover articles that will engage, inform, and enlighten. Each section moves from the general to the specific, covering broad themes in longer introductory essays, filling in the details in the shorter entries that follow. The region's diversity in descent and culture is surprising, and the places, values, conflicts and histories paint a story as big as the plains. The Midwest emerges as a place of great complexity, signal importance, and continual fascination.