Flannery Burke’s A Land Apart: The Southwest and the Nation in the Twentieth Century invites the student of the region to unpack the complicated stories in which Latinos, Native peoples, Anglos, African Americans, and Asians attempted to make sense of their places in this ever-changing cultural landscape. She sets aside the tired discussions of boundaries, opting to limit the “Southwest” to Arizona, New Mexico, and the corresponding border areas in Mexico. Contrasting the experiences of those in New Mexico with those of Arizona reveals unique dynamics but more often highlights how their stories were more similar than their residents often liked to admit.