First Published in 1978, The Circumpolar North is designed for anyone with a more than superficial interest in the northern regions of our planet, geographical, economic, social, or political. The primary importance of North today is as a source of raw materials, as a world crossroads, and as a touchstone of the way nations behave towards their minority groups. Strategic considerations have led to the expenditure of vast sums of money; but world population expansion has not yet affected the northlands and their preservation in a natural state is still a feasible objective. The authors are experts in their own areas and have provided regional chapters on each of the land and ocean areas. The book compares the different approaches of the countries involved and deals also, in the context of the northern seas, with another political dimension – the relations between nations and their success in achieving international management of resources. This is an interesting read for scholars of geography, international relations and international economics.

This book is both a discussion of key decisions Alaskans must make in coming years and a case study of problems of public finance and policy that accompany shifts in power. Originally published in 1962

Rapid population growth in the Great Plains and the American West after the Civil War was the result not only of railroad expansion but of a collaboration among competing railroads to adopt a uniform width for track. The American Railroad Network, 1861-1890 shows how the consolidation of smaller railroads and the growth of capitalism worked to unify the fragmented railroad industry through standardization. George Rogers Taylor and Irene D. Neu cover the emergence of railroads before and during the Civil War, their expansions westward, the gradual adoption of a national rail gauge, and the development of standardized equipment and car interchange rules that set examples for American industry in general. A pioneering work first published in 1956, The American Railroad Network, 1861-1890 provides a framework for understanding how advancements in technology are both impeded and fostered by political processes and commercial pressures. This paperback edition features three full-color fold-out maps and a new introduction by Railroad History editor Mark Reutter.