The first major incident in the events that would lead to a wildlife refuge being taken over was Bunkerville, orchestrated by a Clark County rancher, Cliven Bundy, and his sons, in particular Ammon and Ryan. Not too long after that, Ammon and Ryan led the takeover of Malhuer National Wildlife Refuge. It's still mind-boggling to me that a group of armed men occupied federal government property and this was only sometimes referred to as terrorism and only ended in one death. I try to imagine what might have happened had those men been black, or Middle Eastern, and it doesn't seem likely that a protracted stand-off would end with no loss of life beyond one man that tried to break a roadblock. Reporter James Pogue was in and around the refuge during its occupation, and turned his experience with it into a book: Chosen Country.

Pogue half-heartedly tries to tie the Malhuer episode to the greater scope of the dying out of the "traditional" ranching culture of the West and the long-standing libertarian streak of the people here, their sense of independence and alienation from a bureaucracy so far away. I say half-heartedly not because the connection is tenuous, but because it's poorly explored. There's a rich history here, but Pogue only glances over it, completely leaving out incidents like Ruby Ridge (which aren't tied into the lands dispute, but definitely inform the prickly relationship between people who live in the rural areas and the federal government), so that he can spend more time talking about the relationships he built with the men who occupied the refuge and the things he did with them. In this choice, I really feel like he fails his readers, who I imagine are mostly picking up this book out of curiosity about the larger movement and Malhuer's place within it.

Pogue also stumbles in his organization of the book. Perhaps if I'd been reading a hard copy rather than an e-book, it might have been easier to flip back and forth and have a better sense of who he was talking about when, but Pogue tends to introduce a person (and there's a fairly large cast of them) and then go on to never again place them in context. For some of the more prominent people, like the Bundy brothers and LaVoy Finecum (the one who was shot and died), that's probably not necessary, but I kept completely forgetting who everyone was and their relationships (if any) to each other. He also jumbles his timelines quite a bit between Malhuer, Bunkerville, and a smaller incident he highlights involving a dispute over a mining claim. He's constantly ping-ponging back and forth in time and place without re-orienting his reader and it's confusing.

I know that's a lot of negativity, but I didn't hate the book. I mostly was disappointed in it...Pogue is talented at his work and paints a captivating portrait of Ammon Bundy in particular, as well as Finecum. His reporting for Vice about these events is very worth reading, and I can understand why he was able to pitch a book on the strength of it. I don't regret having read it, but I wish it had undergone more vigorous editing and done a better job of illuminating the environment in which the takeover took place. Instead we get stories about how Pogue understands why people value public lands so much after he takes a bunch of drugs while he camps in BLM land. Instead of reading this book, I'd recommend finding his original articles, which cover much the same territory without feeling like a padded-out term paper.

I gave it four since I have read follow-up reports that show some more detail but the real reason was in some places the book becomes about the author(hey I take drugs, I take this, etc.) and the story meanders. That is a turn of; otherwise it was pretty good.

I received an advanced review copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I remember when I first heard about a bunch of cowboys holed up in a wildlife refuge, protesting the government. I found what they were doing so intriguing. Since then I have looked into why the Bundys and others decided to do what they did. When I was given the chance to read Chosen Country I jumped at the chance to learn more about the event.

Chosen Country is written from the perspective of the author, who worked as a journalist during the siege. I really looked forward to reading this, and overall the book delivered. I was able to learn more about what drove the ranchers out west to support the Bundys. Many were inspired by a desire to fight the Bureau of Land Management, who they felt was unfairly charging them grazing fees on what the ranchers deemed as public land. Sometimes I understood where they were coming from, and sometimes I didn’t. What did become abundantly clear to me was that there are some significant cultural differences dividing the eastern and western parts of the country. There is no way I, as one from the East, could ever fully understand what drives Western Ranchers. This was made clear to me as the author tried to explain the desires and needs of the actors in the standoff. While the book does not end happily, it does leave one thinking.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Despite the meandering story I was still able to learn quite a lot. All in all, this was an eye-opening read that I give a 4 out of 5.