South Dakota Books

The many books in the Images of America Series offer readers the opportunity to get to revisit the histories of places they know well. Thus, I have enjoyed reading several volumes in the series which describe Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where I was born, or Washington, D.C., where I live. But the many volumes in the series can also be used to discover something about new places - towns or sites in the United States that the reader finds unfamiliar. For me, this book on Wind Cave National Park falls into the latter category. I have never been to Wind Cave and knew nothing of it before reading this book. The book taught me something of a place and its people that are outside my usual run of things.

Wind Cave National Park is located in southwest South Dakota south of Mount Rushmore, about 50 miles south of Rapid City and 6 miles north of Hot Springs. In 1903, the cave became the seventh National Park in the United States and the first devoted to a cave. Wind Cave is one of the longest caves in the world, and its full extent has even today not been determined. The cave has many unusual features including a rare cave formation called boxwork. Over 600,000 people visited the Wind Cave National Park in 2007.

In 1912 Congress made the Wind Cave National Park a wildlife refuge. Shortly thereafter, the New York Zoo donated 14 bison to the Park, and other donors transferred elk and antelope. Today the Park is a thriving sanctuary for wildlife, including about 350 buffalo.

In her book, Peggy Sanders tells in photographs and text the story of Wind Cave National Park over its first 100 years. Sanders, from Oral South Dakota, is the wife of a rancher. She has lived in the region of the cave all her life and has written five books on southwest South Dakota for Images of America. In 2007, Sanders received first place in the Will Rogers Writing Contest sponsored by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists for an essay she had written. She is an ideal person to write a homespun history such as this book about Wind Cave. A bit more proofing and editing from Arcadia would have been welcome.

In six short chapters of photos and text, Sanders gives an overview of the history of Wind Cave and of the key moments in its development. Although it had been known to Indians, a young man named Tom Bingham became in 1881 the first settler to discover the Cave. A few years later, a teenager named Alvin McDonald fell in love with the cave and spent much time in its exploration. McDonald left a diary of his effort and the diary is on display at the Park. The Cave was made a Park in 1903 partially to avoid a feud over ownership that had developed between two rival claimants.

During the long years of the Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps made many contributions to Wind Cave National Park. The CCC constructed an elevator to the Cave and built park buildings, including the Visitors Center. The CCC brought improved lighting to the cave and constructed roads and trails in the Park, among many other accomplishments. Sanders devotes a great deal of space to documenting the efforts of the CCC. Her book also documents the extensive Indian presence at Wind Cave and tells a great deal about the NPS employees who devoted their careers to the Park. She also offers many scenes of local people and areas surrounding the Park.

I enjoyed the opportunity of learning from this book about a place that was new to me. This book will have its greatest appeal to those readers familiar with the area and to those who have visited Wind Cave or who have a special interest in caves.

Robin Friedman

This is the 2nd book by Alison Weir that I've read, and I must say that she is a very talented historian and storyteller. What I love about her is her gift for taking non-fiction subjects and telling a compelling narrative, almost as if it were a novel. Although my only criticism of this book is the fact that it's so laden with detail, especially when dealing with the infamous casket letters, that at times it became somewhat tedious. The emphasis on the letters is neccesary, however, since they were instrumental in convicting Mary of Darnley's murder, and their examination is the cornerstone Weir's theory that the letters were at least partial forgeries. I'm not sure if I agree with her aquittal of Mary as an accomplice to Darnley's murder, but whether you decide to agree with her or not, she definitely makes a compelling arguement.

When i brought this book i was hoping that i would come away with a new and clear understanding unfortunitly i was not 100 per cant satisfied.This book moves along at a very brisk pace this is justified i suppose by the fact that the early life and other events that exclude the Darnly affair are not supposed to be the highlight of the story.Alison weir does not make it very clear who was most likely to be guilty of the crime i suggest this book for someone who enjoys deciphering but if you just like to have a casual read then this is not the book for you.I was not too disapointed for i was able to get it new for 5 dollars pheraps for this price i may say it was a good buy but if you are paying above 8 dollars then i would not bother.My review may sound critical but i merely would not like others to be dissapointed and other alison weir books such as the wives of henry the 8th or the life of elizabeth the first are more desirable

I was disappointed in the book, because I hoped for a more balanced, objective look at the murder of Darnley, and Mary's degree of involvement. I agree with the reviewer who said the book needed better editing. Too much time was devoted to repetitious and indignant refutation of George Buchanan's ludicrous allegations about Mary, and Ms. Weir's point of view was driven home too vehemently. The research was meticulous, to the point of ponderous. Near the end of the book, I found myself thinking "Off with her head!" and skipping chunks of pages to reach the conclusion, which, by that time, I found rather satisfying.

Alison Weir writes wonderfully. Her discussion is crisp, engaging, and even by turns charming. She has a knack for pulling out telling detail, and weaves original source material deftly through each passage. In introducing Lord Darnley, the then-future husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, she notes that his parents doted on him, holding him particularly precious as most of his siblings died in infancy. She finds a letter he wrote at 8 that sheds insight on his ambition and religion. Detail by detail, she paints his personality, bringing him to life before us. This is a book that is hard to put down.

Yet, Weir also has a knack for building assumption on frail assumption, trying to build a house of bricks on a foundation of straw. As an example, she speculates that the illness that plagued Darnley in the months before his death was not smallpox (as commonly assumed) but rather an intermediate stage of syphilis. She acknowledges that this is not clear from the record, but merely speculation, and outlines both the pros and cons for her view. Weir is clear enough: there's some reasonable chance she is right, but she acknowledges that, across the years, it is impossible to establish her position with certainty. Weir then builds on this assumption, suggesting it was "inconceivable" that Mary did not find out that syphilis ailed her husband, making assumptions about Mary's state of mind, whether or not she may have had another pregnancy, and how she interacted with other men and her husband based on the speculations about Darnley's disease. This is but one example. Again and again, as one works through the book, speculations which are carefully qualified and limited on first argument become certainties when repeated a few pages later, so that as one finally reaches her conclusion, gets her point, and steps back to consider whether she is right, her logic simply melts away. In the end, she adds nothing to the history but her pretty words.

Had this been a work of historical fiction, I would praise it. Weir is a wonderful story teller. Alas, the book masquerades as history. But, oh, if only other historians could write like Weir!

Like many people, I'm aware of who Mary Queen of Scots is, how she died and the death of her husband. But, I knew little about the actual details of the case, the atmosphere of the time, and the specific evidence against her. In this book, Alison Weir reveals her theory of what happened to Lord Darnley and how his wife Mary was involved.

Since this mystery is many hundreds of years old, there is no concrete forensic evidence to lay it to rest. Some historians and readers will no doubt disagree with Weir's solution. She doesn't present new "facts," she provides her interpretation of the existing ones. However, she has done meticulous research, which is readily apparent, and presents a solid circumstantial case for Mary's guilt or innocence (I won't ruin it!). In one way, Weir's conclusion is irrelevant. Some reviewers have already mentioned Weir's take on the Casket Letters. Weir is not the only historian to doubt their validity, so I had no problem seeing that viewpoint. What makes this worth reading is learning what evidence was used at the time, the placement of people and events, and an examination of it all. I appreciated learning more about this famous, ill-fated woman.

Weir's trademark easy writing style makes this flow like a novel, while still remaining non-fiction. It is a long book, but I don't feel it was bogged down. Readers need more details on the political mood, Mary and the events leading up to Darley's death to get the full picture. I don't think this is as good as The Princes in the Tower. That read like a true-crime novel, and I found myself convinced by her argument at the end. I'm still uncertain what I think really happened to Darnley, but I found Weir somewhat persuasive in her view. Most of Weir's books are worth reading, but this is definitely one of her best efforts via a vis a mystery. Highly recommended.

Daschle vs. Thune starts and ends well, but in different places. And the big in-between fails to deliver the real gory "anatomy" that the title promises and that a participant ought to be able to give.

Lauck launches Daschle vs. Thune in his best polemical form, anticipating in his Preface the predominant criticisms that his book has faced, that Lauck, as a paid Thune staffer writing while fallout from the campaign lingers, is too close to the topic to write a good history. Lauck shows his sharp rhetorical skills here, deftly arguing that his participatory history is part of a long tradition of the finest historical works. Thucydides, Churchill, Schlesinger -- all participants in history, all writing close on the heels of the events they record, all providing works of lasting historical value.

Unfortunately, Daschle v. Thune doesn't provide similar historical value, not in the way the title and Preface promise. As he zooms in from national political context to the specifics of the South Dakota campaign, the book falters. The book gradually turns into a mere rehashing of the campaign against Daschle. Not the "campaign for Thune," mind you: After the recap of Thune's entry into the race and visits to the reservations in the spring, Thune becomes nearly invisible. Even in his own staffer's telling, Thune is little more than the guy running against that two-faced liberal Daschle. The text reads more like Daschle and the Argus Get a Whoopin' than Daschle vs. Thune. Leaving Thune, one of this history's title characters, so underdeveloped is a serious literary flaw.

As a participatory history, Daschle vs. Thune could have offered a real insider's story of campaign strategy, tensions in the Thune war room, etc. But we get none of that rich insider's perspective.

After proclaiming in his Preface the vital nature of a participant's perspective, Lauck disappears almost completely from the narrative. Lauck cites other bloggers specifically for their pro-Thune efforts, but Lauck gives little if any detail about his own writing or other participation in the Thune campaign. This literary choice denies us the full "passion" and "strife of experience" that Charles Beard mentions in Lauck's Preface. Lauck's participatory status colors our perception of the book, but it doesn't appear to contribute to the richness of the book itself.

If anything, Lauck's participatory status appears to detract from the richness of Daschle v. Thune. Rather than risk turning the lights of consciousness inward on the Thune campaign, Lauck can only look outward, fixated on Daschle, on making the argument that Daschle should not be re-elected, even three years after he helped successfully make that argument. It is as if the campaign never ended, and the Thune camp must keep bashing Daschle into submission, not just in the election, but in the annals of history.

Lauck does cap his rehash of the Thune camp's arguments with a reasonable historical theory -- 1960s vs. 1980s, McGovern/McCarthy vs. Reagan. He even marks himself as perhaps the only historian writing for popular consumption in 2007 to use the word synecdoche (see Chapter 10: "Daschle versus Thune as Synecdoche"). Seeing the Daschle-Thune race as an element representing the whole of contemporary American politics is a clever conceit. But if it is accurate, what does the current state of affairs with Daschle and Thune -- a lingering sense of bitterness and vengefulness, a refusal to let the 2004 campaign go, and a Republican senator once touted as the "new national spokesman for Republicans" [189] now relegated to minority status and relative inaction -- say about the bigger political picture? Lauck's own conclusion suggests that his synecdochification of the Daschle-Thune contest is more wish than historical assessment.

Participatory political history, justified as it may be, should give us more insight into the who, the how, and the why of events the participant helped shaped. If Daschle vs. Thune really is participatory history, I want more, not less, of Lauck on the pages. Lauck shouldn't be afraid to turn that light inward on himself, on Thune and his fellow campaigners, to give us a richer history of what was indeed a historic campaign. Instead, Daschle vs. Thune remains focused on beating Daschle, over and over, and thus offers us little but a repeat of the 2004 playbook.

[excerpted from full review at [...]

One will be hard pressed and hell-bent to find such a thorough and well rounded case study on the culture of politics and federal campaign races as Dr. Lauck's book on the Daschle v. Thune Senate race.

Some denizens have voiced concerns over Mr. Lauck's proximity to the Republican challenger and now Senator, John Thune. However, proximity does not indicate or beget bias. Jon Lauck is, by trade, a historian and a lawyer, both vocations which require one to become adept at looking at multiple sides of any issue and choosing the best argument based on known facts and thorough analysis.

In his book, Dr. Lauck discusses the myriad of issues that went into making this contest one of the most hotly contested and nationally renowned Senate races in American history. This book should be mandatory reading for Political Science majors in colleges across America. Not to mention this book should be read by the public at large who too often take politics at face value and fail to look at the underpinnings making the political cogs turn on either side of the ideological spectrum.

I think this is one of the best books I have ever read. I see that the angry people attacking this book worked for Tom Daschle and for liberal groups (such as Jeremy Funk, who has many ethical problems and conflicts of interest). I thought the book was very fair to Daschle but I guess that doesn't matter to the professional smear-mongers like Funk. "Daschle v. Thune" is a revealing look at American politics and should be read by everyone who cares about the political system. Bravo, Dr. Lauck!

I read Jon Lauck's blog regularly during the 2004 campaign not because of any great insights or analysis on his behalf but because it was like a car wreck from which I could not look away. Besides being a tired writer, relying on old cliches and superficial observations to describe the Daschle-Thune campaign, Lauck's pattern of disingenuous, dishonest, disreputable narrative effectively made him as untrustworthy a voice as existed in South Dakota's political arena.

If you want to read a great political book about a great political race, with valuable political lessons applicable more than two decades later, read 'Helms and Hunt: The North Carolina Senate Race, 1984' by William Snider. The author was the editor of the Greensboro News and Record and tells this story with all the skills of an experienced and knowledgeable newspaperman. It is a much better read, and for a fraction of the cost, than Jon Lauck's hackery.

Sorry to interrupt this lil' tea party amongst what are obviously Jon Lauck's relatives, but I don't have to read a word to know this is a colossal waste of time and money. As a South Dakotan who was intimately involved in both the Thune v. Johnson `02 and the Daschle v. Thune `04 Senate races, I can tell you that Mr. Lauck is a political hack of the worst order -- a hack whose political shenanigans lost him his job at a prestigious law firm in Sioux Falls and prevented him from getting tenure at South Dakota State University.

But, don't worry - he managed to land back on his feet on our collective taxpayer dime as a current employee of Senator John Thune. So you know how objective this work, which the hopelessly untenured former professor is laughably trying to pass as an academic work, is going to be: http://www.legistorm.com/member/Senator_John_Thune/97/8.html

But don't just take my word for it, you can read all about how Mr. Lauck was the key player in completely bogus voter fraud accusations in 2002 that nearly brought down a local network television affiliate in South Dakota: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/001693.php

You see, as the Chairman of "Lawyers for Thune," Mr. Lauck partook in a special conference orchestrated by Karl Rove himself to train hack lawyers, such as Mr. Lauck, how to accuse campaigns of "massive voter fraud" with little regard for what trained professionals often call "credible evidence." So, again, you know you're going to get nothing but the straight facts from this guy.

The State Attorney General at the time, Mark Barnett -- a stalwart Republican -- would ultimately deem Lauck's efforts to be worth considerably less than the paper his numerous fallacious briefs were printed on: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1041004948

It was an embarrassment to be sure - but an embarrassment that would later pay off in spades following John Thune's unfortunate comeback in 2004. (sigh) If only there were someway to deduct my contribution to Mr. Lauck's lavish salary working for Senator Thune from my taxes.

This book was absolutely amazing! Everything we wanted to do and everything we didn't know we wanted to do was EASY TO FIND. I spent a bit of time marking the attractions we wanted to see and the routes we wanted to take and NOT ONCE did we get lost. I recommend the trip. However, I recommend it more with this book as a travel companion. For our next trip we plan on touring the South East, don't think I haven't looked to the Insiders' Guide books to help. Have a great time!

We took a South Dakota vacation and found this book to be great reading in our preparation and planning. It covers everything from lodging to attractions to activities to history and on and on.

This book, in combination with "Exploring the Black Hills and Badlands: A Guide for..." helped us have a better vacation than I ever expected.

This is a GREAT book if you are visiting this area. It gives all sorts of information to make your trip more complete. It also gives background information and little insiders tips here and there. The only thing I would look elsewhere for is accomodations. It has good camping and B&B info but not nearly enough hotel and resort listings but you can get that anywhere. This book is worth it just for the INFORMATION included.

My family just got back from South Dakota, where we used this book. I can't begin to tell you how far this book falls short. Want info. on hiking the Badlands? Forget it. Want to know about activities and food in Rapid City? You're pretty much out of luck.

The book's organization is atrocious. Restaurants in one place, lodging in another, attractions in another. So when you pull into a place, you have to flip all over the book just to figure things out.

Basics are missing. For example, say you want to know the best things to do in the Black Hills--it's very difficult to excavate from this book. Instead you learn about real estate, shopping, and many unneeded details. Hikes in the Black Hills? Forget it? How to tackle Wind Cave National Park? Little help.

After travelling around the world with opinionated and helpful Lonely Planet guides, I am sorely disappointed with this book. This book is definately better than nothing, but look elsewhere for help with your trip to beautiful South Dakota.

We bought this book only because the Moon Handbook was unavailable. We hoped to use this as a vacation planner. The book appears to have lots of information, but for us, interested in tent camping and hiking, with some in-town activities, the information was largely irrelevant. Things worth dwelling on--such as Spearfish Canyon--are mentioned with much less emphasis than the exhaustive coverage of shopping facilities, for example. The text is incessantly cheery and reads like a school newsletter. We would have preferred the intelligent critical evaluation that makes the Moon books such great reading--and such great resources.

I am planning to visit South Dakota this summer and since I manage to turn everything I do into an educational project I have been reading up and writing chambers of commerce for information. This book is written in the neutral public relations politically correct style of a guidebook. (Heaven forbid we ever say anything critical about the Indians or why we're still paying $1.5 billion a year for Indian health care.)In fact I believe the author has a PR background. He conveys a lot of information but he could have made the book much more interesting. For example, the story of the trapper Hugh Glass is one of the best stories ever. Glass was mauled by a grizzly and left for dead by his companions. He vowed revenge on those who left him and literally crawls back to civilization to kill the men who left him. However, the author here really does not get into the revenge theme. I had to get that from a Chamber publication. The pictures in the book are great and I would rate the pictures five stars. However, there just aren't that many books about South Dakota. So if you are going to South Dakota it probably is worth picking up. For an interesting book about the entire Great Plains which includes South Dakota read Great Plains by Ian Frazier, which is a five star book.

At first , I didn't think this book was of much help in planning my trip but the more I read it, the more great information I found. I would advise you to read it like a novel and not just skim through it looking for specific information.

Those factoids and stats you're going to bore your friends with when you get home ... you can find them here. What I didn't find was answers to questions, such as: Where are good places to camp? What do I do to enjoy my trip to the reservation, or a powwow? Where are the best places to eat in Hot Springs? That is, things I wanted to know to enjoy the trip.

An ideal book for those intending to visit South Dakota. As well as giving places to visit and stay it provides an interesting insight into the history of the state. A few more photographs would be even better.

In this book, Gump compares the British conquest of the Zulu to the United State's conquest of the Sioux and finds suprising similarities. The book is extremely well written and one of the most engaging history books which I have ever read. While I do not know much about Zulu history, I am a student of Native American history and his analysis of Sioux history seems sound to me. The comparison of the Sioux and Zulu history presents the American conquest of the Sioux in a new and interesting light that helps widen the readers understanding of the conflict.

I absolutely love history and foreign relations, but this book is written in the most boring style possible. Horrible, I wouldn't recommend it. He has some great points, but you are better off reading the book reviews to get his argument.

Please disregard the 2 of 5 rating from the sleep deprived person from North Carolina. This 5 out of 5 work of comparative history will keep you turning the pages. It may actually disturb your sleep with its effective demolition of the historiography of American exceptionalism when it comes to imperialism towards indigenous peoples.

More importantly, this is NOT a narrative about the Sioux or the Zulu as "victims." Although many scholars have noted the impact of Western imperial expansion on indigenous peoples throughout the world, it is only recently that historians have begun to employ the ill-defined and problematic methodology of comparative history to understand the similarities and differences of these diverse colonial encounters.

Gump's book integrates two major themes. One theme is that indigenous societies and cultures are dynamic. This means that they are characterized by intentional action and change. Whether the forces of change are internal or external, indigenous societies are not static.

The second theme is that societies and cultures are components of particular times and actual places. There is a dynamic interrelationship between attitudes, values, beliefs, behaviors and the specific circumstances of historic events. Examining two of these 19th century interrelationships provides us with an understanding of the dynamism of indigenous peoples' cultural adaptation and resilience. The Sioux and the Zulu were as involved in the historical process of change over time as any other people. In spite of their economic and cultural marginalization, adjusting to these circumstances did not necessarily diminish their cultural values.

For a good introduction to the comparative frontier history of the United States and South Africa see Leonard Thompson and Howard Lamar's chapter, "Comparative Frontier History" in their book, The Frontier in History: North America and South Africa Compared, (Yale University Press, 1981), 3-13.

For a comparative study in race relations consult George M. Frederickson's book, White Supremacy: A Comparative Study in American and South African History,(Oxford University Press, 1981).

I was put to sleep three times by this book. Those poor natives. They just can't get no justice. This book does provide a new look at what an injustice western civilation has done to native people.

This book is about a girl named Christine who finds a mysterious cave of wonderous objects. Her brother is extremly ill in this magical story.This story takes place in the dust-bowl times.What Christine finds in this significant cave is unbelieveible and amazing. This Book is the best I've ever read in my entire life. I reccomend this book to every body in the world!!! I absolutely LOVE this book!!! It's the bomb!!! -Jillian

My family read The Great Turkey Walk by this same author and enjoyed it immensely, we were intrigued therefore by this book but were greatly disappointed. If you think the preserving of natural resources is more important than the welfare of human beings, then you will greatly appreciate this book. However, if you, like us, feel that creation although to be respected is also for the physical benefit of humans for survival, you will be greatly disappointed with this book. Not only is the main character's beginning of menstruation dealt with in the book, but she also speaks with defiance to her father who is trying to help their family survive the dust bowl years and it is portrayed as appropriate.

This is one of my daughter's and my favorite books. It tells the story of an adolescent girl coming of age during the dust bowl. While her family prepares to leave their homestead if rain doesn't come within the week, the girl and her brother discover and explore a cave which contains valuable geodes. They must decide whether to reveal the existence of the cave to their father, or to keep it secret in order to preserve it from the same destruction that the surrounding woods have met at the hands of desperate settlers. This book is an excellent read aloud book for advanced 6 year olds and up, or an excellent read for 9+ year olds. Be forewarned, though, that there are several pages that deal with the onset of menstration.

I've encountered several inaccuracies in the second edition of this book. We recently hiked Lost Cabin-Harney Peak Loop and we were expecting to hike the listed distance of 8.6 miles but the actual distance is at least 12 miles and our GPS logged 14 miles. In addition, this hike's trail contact phone number for the Black Hills National Forest Supervisor's Office is incorrect as is the phone number for the Black Hills National Forest Visitor's Center in the appendix. Of the three hikes we have done we have found inaccurate information on all of them. The directions for Crow peak did not give adequate directions from the Interstate 90 exit, for Bear Butte the book lacked current fee information. Many of the hikes do not have their elevation gain listed. This book offers a nice overall listing of hikes in different areas of the Black Hills however the book's inaccuracies and lack of useful features such as an index, hike elevation profiles, and detailed maps that include all the features mentioned in the text make it, in my opinion, less useful than I would have expected.

I live in the Black Hills and use this guide extensively. Itis well written and trails are accurately described. If you purchaseone hiking book for SD....make sure it is this one!...

Good hiking reference if you're new to the BH and hiking in general. I've found the ratings to be more for beginners or folks without a lot of hiking skill (ie. a moderate trail listed as strenuous). Good to get you oriented to the area.

We are planning a trip to the Badlands and Black Hills in September. Insider's Guide provides a wealth of information and I'm finding it a valuable asset. Combined with info from the internet, we will have a well organized trip with knowledge of this area's history.

We just returned from over a week in the Badlands and Black Hills. Although this book had a lot of very useful information, I hated searching through it. Everything is divided into its own category: hotels, restaurants, activities, etc. So when we were in one place for a day or two, we had to search through different sections to find all of the info for that one place. Even worse, each section is divided out by Northern Hills, Central Hills, etc. or by the type of food you're looking for. There was no central location to find all of the restaurants in Deadwood, for example. Apart from that, I found most of the info to be correct and useful. A few of the entry fees were higher in reality, but my biggest problem was with the book's organization. It was a great vacation, and I had a hard time coming home...

We just got back from a week-long trip to the Black Hills using this guidebook, and while it was better than nothing, and the information was generally correct, it was very hard to use. Instead of being arranged by location, the attractions are arranged by category, with each category subdivided yet again. And the index is no use, since they're not indexed by location. This means that if you're sitting in your motel in (say) Deadwood, and wondering what to do in town, you literally have to thumb through the entire book to figure out! Very frustrating. And the book lacks detailed maps where they are needed (the Deadwood-Lead area, where the roads are rather confusing, or the area around Keystone, Mt. Rushmore, and Crazy Horse). The maps mention the Mickelson Trail, but it's not in the index, and we didn't find out what it was until we were actually there (hint: it's not a scenic highway). And the book needs to be more emphatic about the need to stay away from this whole region in early August because of the motorcycle madness.

I expected this book to be of the same quality as Miller's biography of Laura "Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder," which is a first rate work. Unfortunately, this book is substantially inferior in every way.

This book purports to be a history of De Smet as it was when Laura grew up, but is instead a hodge podge of essays ranging from Charles Pierce's theories to the paintings of Harvey Dunn. So instead of learning about De Smet, we have the privilege of learning how educated and erudite the author is. Instead of learning about the town and its characters, we are regaled with the author's theories of how the plow broke the plains.

Occasionally there are nuggets of new information about De Smet, and about some of the characters who appear in Laura's book or were known to her when she lived there. But these nuggets tend to be heavily wrapped in Miller's academic jargon and theories. Evidently, there is not much to be said about any small town, even De Smet, so you have to talk about others things that you conveniently already happen to know: "Place and Community (and De Smet)," "Freedom and Control (and De Smet)," "Fact and Interpretation (and De Smet)," and so on and on.

"Dreary" and "boring" are adjectives Miller uses more than once to describe life on the prairie: those same adjectives apply in spades to this book. It is very difficult to get through, so buy it and read it only if you're into self flagellation.

I think this book is very interesting and very informative. I am a huge LIW fan and I think that any fan of her books would definately enjoy this biography on her life.

I also believe that anyone who doesn't believe that she really exsited should also read this book as well.

This book looks at various historical aspects of the world Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about, and focuses especially on one of her books, Little Town on the Prairie, and on the town of De Smet, SD. I found it very interesting finding out more about the town that was the focus of Wilder's later books. This book is done as a series of essays, and at times repeats information from one essay to the next. However, it is well written and obviously very well researched, and adult fans of Wilder who want to find out more about her and more especially the larger world and time she lived in will enjoy this book.