Oklahoma Books

While somewhat dated (the book was published in 1991), Huntington lays out a clear analysis of what led to the "third wave" of democratic development around the world.

He considers the third wave as the countries that became democratic between 1973 and 1990 but it could be argued that, with changes in the Balkans and the "color revolutions" in Georgia, Ukraine and elsewhere, the third wave continued into the beginning of the 21st century. He looks at the authoritarian regimes that gave way to democracy and breaks the process down into transformations (authoritarian governments taking the lead in changing to democracy), replacements (opposition leaders moving a country to democracy) and transplacements (government and opposition negotiating the transition to democracy). In many cases this meant that reformers in the government and moderates in the opposition compromised to bring about the change. Huntington avoids predictions about the future, thereby avoiding mistakes where subsequent years could have proved him wrong.

My standard for a "real democracy" has been whether or not there could be a peaceful transfer of power. Huntington sets the bar much higher - to consider democracy as taking hold there has to have been two peaceful transfers of power.

"The Third Wave" by Samuel Huntington is a good introduction into democratization studies. Huntington, same as in his other books, uses a light style without too much specialist vocabulary and gives numerous fascinating examples from the history of the countries that underwent systemic transformation after 1974. Since his book is a comparative study, though, it leaves out many details crucial for understanding the specific path of democratization adopted in a given country. It also does not pay enough attention to the process of consolidation which has just began when the book was published. "The Third Wave, however, is just the right book for a beginning democratization student. I think even the critics of "The Clash of Civilizations" will be satisfied with "The Third Wave", which is less ideological and more fact-focused than Huntongton's most famous work.

Kamil Marcinkiewicz
University of Passau, Germany

While not as heavily theoretical as some of Huntington's other works, this book is laden with apercus about why and how countries develop democracies, especially in the most recent wave (just to clarify, the first wave started in the early 1800's, the second occurred after World War II, and the third began in 1974 and included the countries liberated by the end of communism in the late 1980's.) The success of democratization is tied to various factors - the type and strength of the authoritarian regime that is facing this choice, its willingness to permit democratization, the strength of the movement that seeks to democratize, and that country's conditions (i.e. has it attempted to democratize before? How does religion affect the culture of that country?) Huntington's genius is to look at scores of seemingly disparate cases and discern patterns where democratization succeeds and fails.

An interesting side note is Huntington's analysis of why countries democratize. Each wave had its own conditions, but several variables merit mentioning. As a country industrializes, it becomes increasingly difficult for an authoritarian regime to maintain its monopoly on power, which becomes more diffused. Industrialization also fosters the growth of a questioning middle class that becomes more vocal as its wealth increases (not to mention a vibrant working class that is also a vital force for democracy, as Rueschemeyer, Stephens, and Stephens note in Capitalist Development and Democracy.) In addition, authoritarian regimes inevitably weaken over time as they fail to meet expectations and public dissatisfaction increases; they also become stale and are usually incapable of renewing themselves. They eventually lose legitimacy as the coalition of interests that supports them begins to splinter. Just a few more headaches for Jiang Jemin and his crew.

I had to read this book for a class and I really got a great background in democracy in developing countries. Well written and informative.

This book has become my introduction to the Mother Road legacy and it was unforgettable experience! Perhaps, its most thrilling feature is in a "stereoscopic" layout of the pages where vintage and contemporary photos neighbor "native" food receipes and period vehicles. Now that I have sensed ambience of the past and have get my kicks I can readily recommend reading this book before, during and after a real trip.

It's small but its got it all. Rather than turn out another normal size book on Route 66 the publishers had the great idea of making it pocket size, four by six inches, landscape and with FOUR-HUNDRED all-color pages. I predict that this will be the standard book for those who want to make the trip. Each of the eight states that 66 goes through has a chapter, they start with a simple map, comments about landscape and climate, then the text details what to look for along the way, with the help of historical and contemporary photos, a linear map with places and mileage goes across the top of all of these pages.

Between all the route pages are some lovely spreads of Route 66 Americana which repeat themselves throughout the book, Route Food (pages 174-175 has Red-Hot BBQ Beef Ribs) Transport (168-169 has a 1936 Harley-Davidson) Music of the Road (Woody Guthrie on 156-157) and Famous Sites (Wigwam Village, Holbrook, AZ, on 294-295). The books production is excellent, good choice of photos, well laid out pages (a tip of the hat to designer Phillip Clucas) with colourful graphics behind the text on most of them. The back has a book list, useful resources guide (including websites) and index.

I recently reviewed 'The Final Cut Route 66' by German photographer Gerd Kittel. Eighty-three wonderful photographs of what he saw along 66 and I think it is the perfect book to complement Nick Freeth's travelogue. Kittel has the knack of producing really good color in his photos. Both books do justice to a unique and fascinating bit of America.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

Compared to other Route 66 books, this one rates far below them. I can appreciate the love for the mother road in it, but there's too much fluff. I don't care about what songs the author recommends, or the cars. There's also some glaring mistakes, which could throw you off. If you want to travel '66, this is NOT the book you want to use.

For a "look see" book, OK, but your money would be better spent on something like "Route 66: The Mother Road" by Michael Wallis.

If you want to travel the route, spend you money on "Route 66 Adventure Handbook: Updated and Expanded Third Edition" by Drew Knowles or "Route 66: EZ66 Guide for Travelers" (best choice) by Jerry McClanahan.

If I had it to do over again, I would not have purchased this book.

Don't let the size of this book fool you. Approximately the height & width of a post card, it is packed with vibrant full color pictures and information. Archive photos, current conditions of Route 66 icons and roads, and text that is very well written. Even regional culinary receipes from the Mother Road! What more could you ask? An excellent book for both actual and arm chair Route 66 travelers.

"Verne Sankey: America's First Public Enemy" is an exciting and interesting look at the Depression-era Midwest complete with bootleggers, gangsters and kidnappers. Judge Bjorkman does an excellent job of unraveling the story of Verne Sankey, an ordinary kid who wanted to make it big, and finally does so by becoming "America's Public Enemy # 1". The book provides excellent insight into the twisted logic of the criminal mind.

Sandy Murphy

I enjoyed every page of this biography that reads like a novel with clever foreshadowing and unique character development that is accomplished by giving the reader a thorough understanding of the setting in which Verne Sankey became Public Enemy No. 1. Mr. Bjorkman takes us on a bumpy ride through rural South Dakota in the early days of the Great Depression as well as a look into J. Edgar Hoover's early years in the Bureau. It's a good read.

Author Timothy Bjorkman has written what appears to be a commendable biography of "America's First Public Enemy", Verne Sankey. With the demise of prohibition law-breakers turned to kidnapping and bank robbery to acquire their ill-gotten gains. Sankey chose Charles Boettcher II as his kidnapping victim, and the book focuses on this incident, his release, Sankey's trial, and eventual imprisonment. Sankey chose to end his life by hanging himself while in jail. Author Bjorkman has done a good job in writing about his subject, but I was not able to really get into this book. I don't believe that is the fault of the author, however. I never heard of Sankey until I read the book, and I base my low rating on my lack of interest in this depression-era incident and not on the author's effort.

Timothy Bjorkman captured the mood of both impoverished South Dakota and the wealthy of Denver in the 30s. It is a great read that is well documented and gives the reader an understanding of the players as well as the times.

Sharon O'brian replaced the juicy radical language of most books written on American Indian-US government relations such as Custer Died For Your Sins with the text of acts of congress, Supreme Court decisions, and presidential administration policies. Included also is a chapter on European land claims and conflicts that arose between them and the Indians and amongst themselves. It is none of it controversial, all of it educational. It's an excellent guide for anyone claiming to be a U.S. historian.

This book focuses on six tribes, the Mississippi Choctaw, Iroquois League (Haudenosaunee), Muscogee (Creek), Lakota (Teton Sioux), Pueblo, and the Yakima. This is a nice mix of tribes from all regions of the country except Alaska. These are all relatively large tribes, so the experiences of smaller tribes aren't really reflected here.

O'Brien emphasizes the history of all American Indians as well as the history of her six featured tribes. These histories are fine for a textbook, but many of these stories are better told elsewhere. It would be sad to rely on this book for a history of Wounded Knee, for example.

She emphasizes formal government structures of these tribes and not how politics really works on each reseravation. This would be like presenting the powers of the US presidency without giving examples of how Reagan, Clinton or Bush used these powers in recent years, and how these presidents struggled with Congress and other players to increase their powers. There are merits to O'Brien's purely structural approach but I would prefer more discussion of intratribal debates and politics. For a much more political book that also includes a discussion of formal government structures, I'd recommend Lopach et al, Tribal Government Today.

As you'd expect from a textbook, O'Brien emphasizes factual material. She writes well, so that this material is not dry. She is politically sympathetic to the tribes but does not have any ideological axe to grind. She wrote her study with the cooperation of the tribes she studied, and I would think that they would be happy with how they are treated in the book.

There are also extensive photographs, which help maintain reader interest. The margins include many quotations from other authors or from relevant statutes or treaties. While the pictures were a welcome feature, I found the textual marginalia distracting.

All in all, a perfectly fine textbook.

There is much to say in favor of this book. Its main focus is the operation of tribal governments. Because there is so much variety, the author looks at five representative governments in some detail--the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois League), the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the Teton Sioux, the Pueblos, and the Yakimas (who since the publication of this book have revised the official spelling, using the name that appears in the treaty of 1855, Yakama). O'Brien wrote this book with the cooperation and assistance of those she was writing about.

In addition to this focus, the book has the best brief overview of Federal Indian policy I've seen anywhere (about 70 pages). Unlike most books on the subject, the book is amply illustrated with photographs and other images, as well as maps, graphs, and abundant sidebars.

I always use one or more texts on Federal Indian law and policy in my American Indian history courses. Students often call these books dry. When I have used O'Brien's book, students have praised the book and said they enjoy reading it.

Any collection strong in early American history will find plenty to admire in AMERICAN WINDMILLS, by an expert historian on windmill who's been writing about wind-power history for a decade. His coverage here gathers historic images captured by professional windmiller B.H. Burdick and from corporate archives of windmill manufacturers, so it goes far beyond the usual light travelogue approach to cover the entire country's windmill production. Photos show wind machines in use and in manufacture and provide a fine survey which could have been equally well profiled in our Photography Shelf area, but which is recommended here as a top pick for any comprehensive collection strong in early American history.

This book was a complete surprise, meaning, I never knew there was such a colorful history about windmills. This book would be good to have in a school library. It would be useful for historians writing about early America.

Prairie Wind, Poems & Stories
"The windmill is a fondly recognized feature of the American landscape, a sentinel rising above rooftops and fields. Its stalwart presence states clearly that human ingenuity has been at work."
And so we begin an enjoyable guided tour of one of the mechanical icons of America. Even while rushing by on interstates, in the far distance a windmill can often be seen. If less hurried and slower routes are taken, windmills can be seen along the roadside as reminders of man and nature cooperating.
American Windmills is a pleasant and enjoyable experience. Through Lindsay Baker's photographs and clarity of writing, windmills and those who made them and used them are brought to life. Having written about wind power history for twenty-five years, his album contains historic images captured by professional windmiller B. H. "Tex" Burdick and from corporate archives of windmill manufacturers.
Windmills were used in a wide variety of settings: ranches and farms, alongside railroads, in industry and even in urban areas.
The photographs depict the manufacture, distribution and use of windmills in all regions of the United States with an emphasis on the Great Plains.
In a visual tour, we are taken into the factories showing how commercial windmills were mass produced and marketed. In rural America we learn how inventive people designed their own homemade wind machines.
Windmills are the remnants of lives lived in harmony with the earth. They are symbols of a peoples' determination. They are Americana.

This book, while somewhat outdated, provides accurate and detailed information about the ruins in Guatemala in particular. The guides I traveled with all wanted to purchase it to enhance their information. The descriptions help you make decisions about where to go and having it with you enhances viewing. Places are generally easier to get to now.

This book, while somewhat outdated, provides accurate and detailed information about the ruins in Guatemala in particular. The guides I traveled with all wanted to purchase it to enhance their information. The descriptions help you make decisions about where to go and having it with you enhances viewing. Places are generally easier to get to now.

Like her other book on the Yucatan, this one focuses on many smaller sites. I was surprised that it didn't mention El Puente as a site, however, and it was written before the Copan Museum opened, which is too bad. Unfortunately it is already sadly outdated. I hope she does another book soon.

Another excellent volume, a superb companion piece. jerome A Greene has, in this book, put the mirror image to his other volume with as much care, scholarship and honesty as the other. From the point of view of the soldiers and their commanders this time - a truly spectacular achievement.Greene has created a perfect matching set of volumes that encompass a fascinating, exciting and terrible part of American history. Thank you Amazon for making me aware of both volumes. To any scholar of history thinking of only buying one viewpoint, I would say - dont! You cant find better than these two books to take you back to those amazing days.

Greene is a very knowlegeable historian of the Sioux Wars. In this work, he has edited and commented upon reports of Officers and others who were participants in this monumental struggle between the Sioux and their Cheyenne allies and the White soldiers of the frontier army. A great book to assist the historian in understanding the hardships of a winter campaign against hostiles on the northern plains.

This book brings together 15 first-hand accounts of the major military engagements of the Sioux War, 1876-77. Most of the essays first appeared in newspapers of the day; others were excerpted from books and memoirs. Included are Indian scout William Jackson's highly personalized account of the Little Big Horn battle; Robert Strahorn's record of the Battle of Powder River on March 17, 1876; Tilton and Butler's rendering of the Wolf Mountain expedition and battle in early 1877; Henry Bellas's chronicle of the Crook-Mackenzie campaign and the Dull Knife battle in November 1876; and Oskaloosa Smith's letter describing the Spring Creek encounters of October 1876, to give just a brief listing.

All of them are written by participants from the army and present the military's point of view (a subsequent volume from the Indian's side has also been published). Greene has not "sanitized" any of the essays, so they retain the flavor (and prejudices) of the individuals writing them. Most of the records include a good map of the event being described. The only thing missing is editing by Greene that could have identified or amplified better things mentioned or corrected mistakes. Other than that the book is an excellent source for gaining underived versions of events during the Sioux War written by participants.

Its interesting to learn how the women of this time period felt, thought, dreamed. They had months of prep work to prepare for the trips across the US to Oregon and California. What we take for granted, they had to make from scratch. Often they never saw their families again, once they left in their covered wagons. Can you imagine preparing for a trip that had few places to stop for food or bedding along the way? These women were tough, often working along side their husbands in physical tasks. Often they buried loved ones along the way - children would get sick, husbands would come down with cholera. How did they make it?

The diaries and letters of women who traveled to the west during the 19th century 'go west' push offer eight primary source accounts, these selected for their powerful visions of family, friendships, and experience. Women's studies collections as well as those strong in general historical review will relish a gathering of letters and diaries from those who experienced the movement, with historical notes by Kenneth L. Holmes furthering the experience, adding invaluable background information.

This richly-detailed anthology is derived from the original eleven volume series published in 1983 by Arthur H. Clark. The original volumes were compiled by the late Professor Kenneth Holmes of Western Oregon University. This anthology of eight unedited firsthand accounts was selected by Professor Michael Tate of the University of Nebraska.

The diarists are pioneer women traveling with their husbands from Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and Missouri, bound for Washington, Oregon, California and Colorado. It took about five months to get across the country between 1848 and 1862 using northern routes with oxen pulling a covered wagon.

Why did they go? They went to pan for gold, for richer farmland, to expand their mercantile, and to join family in the West, among other reasons.

Amelia Hadley made it from Illinois to Oregon in only four months because her party used horses. She writes that the "Soo" Indians passed her on horseback pointing their long spears ahead, saying "me for Pawnee." She speaks of the Indians as being "filthy" horse thieves, but doesn't seem to fear much for her own safety. She chronicles the fact that pioneers didn't rest in peace when she says "the wolves made a den down in his grave. They dig up everyone that is buried on the plains as soon as they are left."

Margaret Frink traveled from Indiana to California, and whose husband published her memoir posthumously in 1897. Margaret is known for her accounts of how scurvy was circumvented on the Trail. Her account taught me that many pioneers started out in very small groups and were overwhelmed at Trail forks when they witnessed "all manner of vehicles and conveyances...I thought that if one-tenth of these teams got ahead of us, there would be nothing left for us in California worth picking up."

Some things never change, as when Ellen Tootle's husband decides that Mrs. Tootle "cannot do anything but talk" on their way from Nebraska to Colorado. "He decided to make it [the coffee] himself, but came to ask me how much coffee to take...I told him the quantity of coffee to 1 qt [of water]. He took that, filled the coffee pot with water, then set it near, but not on the fire. I noticed it did not boil, but said nothing...I inquired how the coffee tasted. He acknowledged that it was flat and weak, but insisted I did not give him proper directions and consented to let me try it at supper time."

The book includes a map of the U.S. west of the Mississippi with the states, cities, Trails, Rivers, Forts, and Lakes along the way. This map is immensely helpful and would be even more helpful if it included a few more states to the east. The map includes a southerly Trail, but no diarist in this book went that way. This was a disappointment as I was quite eager to learn how a woman made her way from my home state of Texas to San Diego, California.

by Stephanie Barko
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

I'm an engineer who lives in the Pacific Northwest. I was hoping for more focus on the engineering than the book actually has. Instead, it seems like something of a synthesis book. A little bit of engineering, a little bit of history, and a lot of politics within and between the Army Corps Of Engineers and the Bureau Of Reclamation.

In fact, I ended up finding the pre- New Deal chapters to be the most interesting. Once the actual New Deal dams were discussed, I felt the dams themselves got short shrift compared to the Washington DC politics.

BIG DAMS OF THE NEW DEAL ERA: A CONFLUENCE OF ENGINEERING AND POLITICS provides a history of the design and construction of the American West's biggest dams and as such is an important key to understanding the growth and development of the West as a whole. College-level collections will readily find this a 'must have' acquisition, whether they're buying for engineering students, or those studying the evolution and development of the West as a whole: chapters survey engineering science, local politics, public needs, and how these damn were constructed.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book has just recently been published, and given the renewed controversy over whether or not to dismantle some dams in the U.S., it is a must read for those interested in how and why massive dams were constructed during the New Deal era. Focusing on the building of major dams in four western river basins-the Colorado, Columbia, Missouri, and Sacramento-San Joaquin-the authors provide an explanation of how engineering science, regional and national politics, perceived public needs, and the affected rivers' natural features combined to create the dams and restructure the political and physical landscape during the 1930's and '40s. This book makes for fascinating reading about the building of the American West's mammoth dams.

Nice book for those that want to learn a bit more about the history of the Wild West!

Mr. Nolan, who is considered by many to be the foremost authority on Billy the Kid, has compiled a selection of essays and writings about his legend and life. He begins with a dime novel that was published before Billy's death in 1881 and each chapter demonstrates the evolution of Billy's legend to more modern, historical research.

In response to L. Carvo's review, this book is not meant to be an inclusive look at the life of Billy the Kid. It's a collection of rare and often out-of-print writings that is more appropriate for the serious student of the life of Billy the Kid. For those folks, this book is an absolute must-have.

For those who have never read a book about the Kid I would recommend Mr. Nolan's "The West of Billy the Kid", Robert Utley's "Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life" or Jon Tuskas "Billy the Kid: His Life and Legend".

I have been reading some books about Billy, but certain faces of his life are not showed and neither assumed about Billy.

We have in the 1800's a society which is almost Mexican in New Mexico. The southern country is known by being religious. It appears that the descriptions are focused solely in the criminal side of the Kid while his religious preference by inheritance or environbment is not portrayed.

It appears that he has a very good writing style, but there is no mentioning of what school or source for such capabilities over the "standard criminal" were adquired from.

What churches were in those towns where he lived at? Which were the schools around? Knowledge was taught by the "medicine man" only? (pay no attention to my sarcasm)

Even if this kind of research can lead to asumptions made about him, there is an imcomplete scenario around his life by the lack of this kind of information.

The adquired sources about him are very good in oher aspects, but they seem to be directed as Billy the gangster only. Some sources of the book show the general scenario about the law in those times, the transportation and the migration to the South, etc. But, in those times there were Catholics, Baptists, and Mormons that might have had influence in the Kid or the people around him. I don't think that those old towns were filled by drunkers, prostitutes, saloons, post-offices and adobe buildings used as jails. There were other peole who also was there and used to study somewhere and practice their beliefs.

Why is this so important? In reality it won't be essential to know about his religion or education, but this is the missing part about him that was an important part of the society in those years.

Most of the books about Billy the Kid are similar to write the history of US without mentioning the influence of religion in its development, like to say that the Pilgrims arrived to US but without mentioning why they left England.

A more complete view of its surroundings is still missing in this book.

There have been numerous books and films devoted to Billy the kid - but he still remains an elusive figure. Here historian Fredrick Nolan provides a synthesis of information surrounding Billy the Kid, offering up some of the best articles - some no longer in print - to provide a well-rounded version of not only the realities and history behind the figure, but how legends evolved around him from fictionalized accounts. An excellent addition for any in-depth American history shelf.