Gunther Barth is Professor of History Emiritus at the University of California, Berkeley. His work is focused on the cultural and social American history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with an emphasis on westward migration and the rise of cities. Among his major publications are All Quiet on the Yamhill (1959), Bitter Strength (1964), City People (1982), Instant Cities (1988), and Fleeting Moments: Nature and Culture in American History (1990).