Elliott West, alumni distinguished professor of history at the University of Arkansas, covers a major part of the American story in his new book,"Continental reckoning: The American West in the Age of Expansion." From the rush to build railroads, to forced movement of Indigenous populations, the book chronicles how the West changed the country. He will deliver a talk in the Kennedy Lecture Series at the Pryor Center in downtown Fayetteville Thursday night and we asked for a preview.