William Leach, professor, specializes in modern American cultural history. He received his B.A. from Rutgers (1965) and his Ph.D. from the University of Rochester (1976). His publications include: Country of Exiles: The Destruction of Place in American Life (1999); Land of Desire : Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture (1993); and True Love and Perfect Union: The Feminist Reform of Sex and Society (1980). He is currently researching two books. The first focuses on the ways Americans have viewed nature since 1800, with emphasis on the study, collection, and culture of butterflies. The second surveys the history of American consumer capitalism from 1890 to the present.