Born to the Land: An American Portrait by Brent Ashabranner is a 134-page hardcover published by G.P. Putnam's Sons. Stated first impressions of 1989 and a Book Club edition. The dust jacket has light surface rubbing and a 1" closed tear along the back edge. Inside, the book is in very good condition, with clean unmarked pages and tight binding.
Book Summary
Farming and ranching are among the most traditionally American ways of making a living, but will family farms and ranches survive in the America of the future? Since World War II, American farms have shrunk from 6 million to 2.5 millions. Drought, high energy and fertilizer prices, unstable market conditions, skyrocketing interest rates, and competition from foreign crops and cattle have combined to create a crisis in American agriculture.
Yet the will to survive is strong. Born to the Land: An American Portrait is about a part of America where ranching and farming have long been the economic bone and sinew of the land. In words and pictures, the author and photographer portray a community with deep pioneer roots and tell the story of the people who live there today, people determined that the way of life they know and love will not perish.
The setting is southwestern New Mexico, a place with its own traditions, rhythms, problems, and view of the rest of the world. Yet in many ways it might be any part of rural America where the inhabitants depend primarily on agriculture or cattle for their livelihood.
