“Arid Empire explores the dual relationship between colonization of the U.S. Southwest and diplomatic relations in the Middle East”
—Hunter Bassler, KPNX Channel 12
“With lucid prose, a big narrative sweep and an impressive command of the facts, Natalie Koch exposes the connections — both historic and modern — between two dry spots on the globe with vastly different human cultures that forged strong economic and military ties. The ‘double exposure’ between Arizona and Arabia is a vital contribution to geographic scholarship, as well as a missing piece of the puzzle for residents of both America’s backyard Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula’s version of the Mojave.”
—Tom Zoellner, author of Rim to River
“I’ve waited for a book like this for a long time. Arizona’s place in our collective imagination has been as a water-starved, overheated, dangerous crossing point for Latin American migrants. But it is these things and more. From the experimental agricultural programs to the refugee settlement communities and, yes, the camels, it has also been a site for the projection of imperial power in the Middle East, North Africa, and the rest of the world. Now that Natalie Koch has helped us see it so clearly, we won’t ever be able to unsee it.”
—Geraldo Cadava, author of The Hispanic Republican and Standing on Common Ground
“Arid Empire is a surprising history book about the centuries-old cyclical relationship between two deserts half a world away from each other – and their continued mutual influence.”
—Jeff Fleischer, Foreword Reviews
“Koch successfully capitalizes on a series of carefully documented case studies to unpack the United States’ often elusive and indirect pseudocolonial ambitions. In doing so, she reveals how, in the name of scientific progress and technological advancement, US policymakers and private companies – with close ties to institutions of higher education – gained access to desert resources and profited from them, all while claiming to reject old-world colonial attitudes. The outcomes were nonetheless similar.”
—Pamela Karimi, Science
“Like the sunglasses in the classic sci-fi film They Live, Arid Empire gives us the lenses we need to detect and critique 20th century ideologies at work in the 21st.”
—Zachary Sugg, Water Alternatives
“At once a fascinating history of US and Arab attempts to make the desert productive in human terms and a comprehensive discussion of what colonizing the desert means.”
—Ron Jacobs, Counterpunch
“Arid Empire offers an insightful and beautifully written history with a unique and most-welcome transregional premise.”
—Sean Lawrence, Enviromental History
“Simultaneously a work of historical geography, political ecology, international relations, and cultural studies, Natalie Koch’s Arid Empire denaturalizes settler-colonial and modernist myths by uncovering connections between the long-term economic developments of Arizona and the Arabian Peninsula.”
—Clarence Dodge, The AAG Review of Books
“This month’s Arizona Author Series presentation reminds us that the Arizona Desert is interconnected with the world. Whether you’ve already visited Hi-Jolly’s tomb or are new to the desert, Arid Empire has something to teach all of us about our state’s growth.”
—Secretary of State Adrian Fontes
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