Mark Kanazawa is professor of economics at Carleton College.
There has not been much new in the property rights literature for some time, and Kanazawa's book, based on analysis of newspapers, nineteenth-century court cases, and early mining camp rules and company records, is a wonderful addition. It will have broad appeal among legal scholars, historians and students of the American West, political scientists studying local common pool resource management, and economists interested in the development and modification of property Institutions and the role of transaction costs in influencing outcomes. (Gary D. Libecap, University of California, Santa Barbara)