Author photo: Ronan Donavan
BETSY GAINES QUAMMEN
Historian and writer BETSY GAINES QUAMMEN examines the intersections of extremism, public lands, wildlife, and western communities. She received a PhD in History from Montana State University, a MS in Environmental Studies from University of Montana, and a BA in English from Colorado College. Gaines Quammen is the author of True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America and American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God, and Public Lands in the West. She lives in Bozeman, Montana, with her spouse, writer David Quammen.
BEHIND THE BOOK
An Interview with BGQ about the making of her latest book TRUE WEST: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America. (COMING SOON!)
BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR
TRUE WEST:
Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America
From the Northern Rockies to the Southwest deserts, Betsy Gaines Quammen explores how myths shape our identities, heighten polarizations, and fracture our shared understanding of the world around us. As she investigates the origins and effects of myths of the American West, Gaines Quammen travels through small towns and big cities, engaging people and building relationships at every stop.
“People think they ‘know’ the West but they’re usually wrong. That’s because there’s no region of our country more steeped in fallacy, fake news, and fable. Betsy Gaines Quammen, a wry and wise observer, takes us on a ride across the modern West—and along the way, disentangles reality from centuries of myth and mystique.”
—HAMPTON SIDES, New York Times bestselling author of Blood and Thunder
AMERICAN ZION:
Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West
American Zion is the story of the ongoing feud between Mormon ranching family the Bundys, the federal government, and the American public. Historian Betsy Gaines Quammen examines the roots of the Bundys’ cowboy confrontations, and how history has shaped an often-dangerous mindset which today feeds the militia movement and threatens public lands, wild species, and American heritage.
“Gaines Quammen uses science, broadminded inquiry, and historical records to capture all aspects of the movement to rescind the laws creating public lands. She also offers hope for the future of precious Southwestern landscapes.”
—BOOKLIST