University of Nebraska Books

This book provides a unique analysis of the Creek trading economy up through the American Revolution. There have been many books on the creek that try to capture who they are as a tribe. This book seeks to understand the trading patterns that occurred and in doing provides a unique and never before seen approach to the Muscogee nation. The book is quick and easy to read and concisely covers the information relevant to trading in Creek towns. The reader not only hears about volume of trade which is seldom talked about but also a reconstruction of life in Creek towns. The book also presents what life as a trader was like in the Indian towns which are only a recent vein of scholarship still being developed. Finally this book comes closer to understanding how large the Creek Nation was based on the trading figures. Overall an excellent addition to the literature.

In "Deerskins and Duffels", Kathryn Holland Braund provides a scholarly and easily readable study of the dynamics of the trade relationship between the English and the Creek Indian Nation.

Braund delivers a good overview of the history of the Anglo-Creek trade; from its introduction in the late 17th century, its triumph against its competitors - France and Spain - in the 18th century, and its conclusion in the early 19th century with the removal of the Creeks by the American government.

Importantly, the book shows how that both the British and the Creeks benefitted from their trade relationship. South Carolina and Georgia owe their colony's success to the economic windfall from the trade. Meanwhile, the trade enabled the Creeks to become the preeminent Indian nation of the Southeast at the, sometimes catastrophic, cost of neighboring tribes.

"Deerskins and Duffels" gives an interesting look into the life and business activities of the frontier Indian trader. However, the book's greatest value is its well-researched examination of the Creeks as consumers and how their Nation's demand for goods caused them to create a massive commercial deer harvesting enterprise.

Braund has written a fully documented textbook on the subject of Anglo-Creek trade; but, she has relayed the information in such a way that both the scholar and the casual reader will be well satisfied for having read it.

In "Deerskins and Duffels", Kathryn Holland Braund provides a scholarly and easily readable study of the dynamics of the trade relationship between the English and the Creek Indian Nation. Braund delivers a good overview of the history of the Anglo-Creek trade; from its introduction in the late 17th century, how it triumphed against its competitors France and Spain in the 18th century, and its conclusion in the early 19th century with the removal of the Creeks by the American government. Importantly, the book shows how that both the British and the Creeks benefitted from their trade relationship. South Carolina and Georgia owe their colony's success to the economic windfall of the trade. The trade enabled the Creeks to become the preeminent Indian nation of the Southeast at the, sometimes, catastrophic cost of neighboring tribes. "Deerskins and Duffels" gives an interesting look into the life and activities of the frontier indian trader. However, he book's greatest value is its well-researched examination of the Creeks as consumers and how the Nation's demand for trade goods caused them to create a massive commercial deer harvesting enterprise. Braund has written a fully documented textbook on the subject of Anglo-Creek trade, but she has relayed the information in such a way that both the scholar and the casual reader will be well satisfied for having read it.

This is an excellent first hand account of the original discovery of what was to be the Oregon Trail (in reverse). Robert Stuart originally left New York on the ship the Tonquin, funded by John Jacob Astor, and sailed around the tip of South America and then eventually up to the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon to establish a trading post. Stuart then proceeded to head back east to report to Astor about the state of affairs of the trading fort. With only a handful of men, they went by canoe, horseback and mostly by foot, from the mouth of the Columbia to St. Louis, then eventually to New York. This historical narrative is beyond words. They faced the hardships of hunger, fatigue, Indians, weather, and about everything else one can think of. It is truly a fascinating portrayal of day to day survival in the 1812 wilderness written from the hand of the man who was there. What I also enjoyed about the book was the Appendix on Wilson Price Hunt who, also working for Astor, took an expedition by land from St. Louis to Oregon at about the same time. His written account is also mind-blowing and puts the whole book into perspective. There is also an excellent forward by Rollins which gives you a background on what you are about to read.

This book represents a major achievement in the annals of western exploration, and deserves a prominent spot on anyone's American history shelf. In 1810, Robert Stuart, a partner with John Jacob Astor, shipped to the mouth of the Columbia River, where he helped establish Astoria. But troubles at the post with the British during the War of 1812 impelled Stuart with six other men to make an overland winter journey over the Rockies to St. Louis. Throughout the journey Stuart kept a journal, in which he recorded everything encountered along the way: the precise route taken, various Indian tribes, flora and fauna, perspective trapping grounds - and their own personal hardships, which included, near starvation, freezing weather, and hostile Indians. He gave the journal to Astor, who sent it to President James Madison. Stuart then wrote a more formal version of the journey, which was published in France. The original journal made its way back to the Stuart family, where it remained forgotten until it was discovered in a cupboard and finally published in 1935.

This book publishes both the original journal and the French rewrite, known as the "Traveling Memoranda." Both are meticulously edited by Philip Ashton Rollins, which is the key that makes this edition not only definitive but a masterwork. With Rollin's notes it's possible to follow Stuart's route precisely. He is especially detailed where the men crossed South Pass, the first known whites to do so, though their "discovery" would go unrecognized (Jedediah Smith is credited with making the first "recorded" crossing of the Pass in 1824.) In addition to these works, there is a 70-page Forward that summarizes events and puts the Narratives into perspective and a detailed Biographical Note on Stuart's family history.

The book indeed is a major accomplishment. Anyone interested in the early exploration of the West must read this book. Highly recommended.

Robert Stuart, a partner of John Jacob Astor, was sent by ship to Oregon on company business, and returned cross country by horseback, canoe and foot. Along the way he kept a journal, written in berry juice, which is reprinted here. Washington Irving also wrote "Astoria" based on this journal.

Our whole country should be grateful to Robert Stuart for his discovery of the Oregon Trail and his courage against unbelievable odds in making such a tortuous journey. This book was first printed in 1935 and the original copies are scarce and valuable. So I was thrilled to discover that Amazon not only sold it but that it was now in paperback! When the word gets around to the rest of his descendants, we will have this book on the best seller list, where it belongs. So take that, Lewis & Clark!

An interesting book. The first section describes the gradual tightening of legal restrictions on the Jewish people of Germany. Each decree gradually stripping another layer of civil protection by defining them as second class citizens. The final legal step was to define what a Jew was, and how they no longer qualified even as a second class citizen.

The second part of the book tells the story of the same process in Poland. Each step was carefully calculated as part of the final solution of the "Jewish problem." Interesting is Heydrichs order in 1939 where it is obvious that extermination was the final goal. Also interesting, at least for me, was how clearly Hitler considered Jews and Communists one and the same. Rather, you could be a communist without being a Jew, but all communists took orders from the international Jewish conspiracy.

The final section describes the events in the Soviet Union where the Holocaust operated without any restraints. This book is about the destruction of the Jewish population so you will not find any reference to the deaths of millions of Poles, Ukranians, etc.

An interesting book. If you have minimal knowledge of the Holocaust this would give the reader a starting point. Please remember this not going to read like a novel although in its own way it is a narrative. A narrative of the destruction of the Jewish people.

This series of legal documents, decrees, orders, instructions or live accounts describes better than any litterary form the progression in horror which our Jewish parents, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nevews had to suffer from April fools' day of 1933 when waring the David star was enforced to this community until the end of the second world war in mid 1945.

As a Christian I was surprised to discover that the trauma resulting from the horrifying murders is so deep in the Jewish community that, for most, its members if they do know about the holocaust, actually don't have a real view of it. Naturally the massive and sadistic aggresion against the Jewish people screens, in this book, the fate of the ones who shared their fate for having protected them or for having fought the Nazis.
After all Jewish people suffered between two third and three quarter of the enormous human non-military losses under surrealistically inhuman conditions.

This book should be handled with the respect normally due to religious books: it represents the steps of the martyrdom of the Jewish families under Nazi madness.

The content of the book should be remembered in details by every western culture including Israel's right wing (after all "Nazi" represents the danger of mixing nationalism and socialism...) Americans should learn from this book that being more powerful doesn't mean being better. Europeans could find in it how non elected "public servants" laugh at democratically elected representatives (elected ones disappear over the time, bureaucrats remain and never have to respond for diffused results).

For the content of this book to be fully meaningful, it should be enlightened by Milgram's explanation of how "Obedience to authority" made it possible for these horror to happen.

A major book which supplies everything Jewish and non Jewish need to know. A reedition with a lot of proper photographs of the murders by the Einsatzgruppen, of the Gettos and of the concentration camps conditions would be welcome.

This series of legal documents, decrees, orders, instructions or live accounts describes better than any litterary form the progression in horror which our Jewish parents, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nevews had to suffer from April fools' day of 1933 when waring the David star was enforced to this community until the end of the second world war in mid 1945.

As a Christian I was surprised to discover that the trauma resulting from the horrifying murders is so deep in the Jewish community that, for most, its members if they do know about the holocaust, actually don't have a real view of it. Naturally the massive and sadistic aggresion against the Jewish people screens, in this book, the fate of the ones who shared their fate for having protected them or for having fought the Nazis.
After all Jewish people suffered between two third and three quarter of the enormous human non-military losses under surrealistically inhuman conditions.

This book should be handled with the respect normally due to religious books: it represents the steps of the martyrdom of the Jewish families under Nazi madness.

The content of the book should be remembered in details by every western culture including Israel's right wing (after all "Nazi" represents the danger of mixing nationalism and socialism...) Americans should learn from this book that being more powerful doesn't mean being better. Europeans could find in it how non elected "public servants" laugh at democratically elected representatives (elected ones disappear over the time, bureaucrats remain and never have to respond for diffused results).

For the content of this book to be fully meaningful, it should be enlightened by Milgram's explanation of how "Obedience to authority" made it possible for these horror to happen.

A major book which supplies everything Jewish and non Jewish need to know. A reedition with a lot of proper photographs of the murders by the Einsatzgruppen, of the Gettos and of the concentration camps conditions would be welcome.

This book is based on a diary which the author began in 1927, when she was 15 and a farm girl in North Dakota, and covers the years from 1927 ro 1937. She worked very hard and lived in grinding poverty. She went to college and then taught school and fended off marriage proposals, and never in the book says a good word for the man she married--who was courting her thru the last years she was keeping her diary. This I found to be quite a book, unpretentious as it holds itself out to be. A most moving account of a time and place one seldom hears about. I recommend it unreservedly.

I absolutely adored this book. It was powerful for me because it gave me an honest, often humorous, but vivid account of a reality I craved knowing more about...the depression years in the Great Plains states. I think I know more about my mother, who grew up a poor tenant farmer's daughter, just a little better. I look forward passing it on to others, and even using it as a wonderful book to read to some of my older friends.

Wonderful narrative of a difficult time in America. Such perspective of events from close to home. I recommend this to anyone who appreciates history unrevised and truthful.
T. Addison

I live on the floodplane of the Mississippi River. In flood years, the spring rise threatens my existence in deluging ways, the river flowing into the first floor of my house. I keep a dinghy tied to my back doorknob for quick escape. Jane Varley's book provides haunting and fascinating images of what happens when a river relcaims its rightful place. Always in the counter-balance, of course, is how it wreacks havoc on human life. What does the river give? What does it take? Varley's book tackles both these questions in insightful and poetic ways.

Buy this book. You'll find her story of living in the midst of disaster life-giving and awe-inspired.

This book is an amazing story of the beauty and strength of nature. Though written as a narrative, the language is beautifully poetic. The author is a fantastic story teller, and shares a personal account of an incredible event.

This is a question that Jane Varley probes in Flood Stage and Rising. It is thrilling and fascinating that she is writing about midwesterners, and more specifically, Grand Forksians, inhabitants of this Red River Valley---but Varley's explorations in this work move well beyond our area, begging everyone to look closely at their surroundings and experience a sense of place more fully.

Every other chapter in Flood Stage and Rising is about Varley's experiences during the 1997 Grand Forks flood. The other chapters reveal her connections to water, particularly rivers, over the course of her life. She was born during an April flood in Dubuque and in the chapter describing it says, "I was born from water into water."

As a newcomer to North Dakota, Varley maintains a compelling distance from her topic, offering us a view of ourselves that is rich in familiar phrases ("Forty below keeps the riff raff out"), accents ("Ya got cherself in a spot there, didn't cha?") and ways of life ("In Minnesota, kindness can be an urgent business"). Yet Varley reminds us of her transient status: "Was the flood helping me know this place better or preventing me from knowing it, spurring on the feeling that I should leave and find new territory?"

It's a question we ask ourselves: Why do we live here? Varley will not answer this question for you, or even really for herself. You will not want her to; you will read the book and ask questions of yourself, your home, your memories, your observations, and your thoughts. As I stated earlier, people from all parts of the country will relate to and enjoy this book, and we owe an extra thanks to Varley for reminding us where we've been, making us put aside the jokes about living in North Dakota long enough to truly appreciate our own stories. "The stories reveal who we are, full of words, ready to say what happened to us, as well as silent, turning back to the cold muck of a basement, reaching in and ordering a new kind of life."

this is a magnificent collection of quilts. like many other quilters, i have quite a few books devoted to antique quilts--whether museum or state project collections or the quilts of other countries. this is one of the best.

many of the quilts shown are unlke any others i've seen in any source. the range and wealth of design and originality are breathtaking and inspirational.

the sections dealing with women's roles in 19th century america and their relation to botany is well written and very interesting.

the photos and written descriptions of the quilts are very good. it would, of course, have been lovely to have had detailed shots of the quilting, but that is possibly the only criticism i have about this book.

definitely a book for any quilter's library, and also valuable to anyone interested in the lives of 19th century women.

This book presents 53 full color quilts from the Ardis and Robert James collection at the Nebraska State Museum. The quilts are all superb examples of cut-out chintz applique, album style, applique, pieced and some crazy quilts. It examines the influence of gardening and botanizing on 19th century quilt designs. I highly recommend this book to the quilter, or quilt lover. It gives a detailed description of each quilt, and brings out design elements that might otherwise be overlooked. I own many quilt documentation books and have not seen most of the quilts in this book before. Many have never been publicly displayed before. It is absolutly gorgeous. Buy it!!! You will not be disappointed.

Enhanced with 53 color plates, 11 b/w illustrations, five charts and an index, A Flowering Of Quilts is a superbly presented compendium of the quilter's art with selections drawn from the Ardis and Robert James Collection of the International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska. A spectrum of quilting styles is presented including cut-out chintz applique quilts, album-style quilts, red-and-green floral applique quilts, pieced quilts, crazy quilts, and more. Each botanically inspired quilt is supported with a detailed description of its applique, piecing, and quilting techniques, as well as historical, horticultural, and botanical background information on the quilt's design and execution. Informative essays explore the nineteenth century women's sustained interest in botany and examine the parallels between their flower garden designs of the era. A Flowering Of Quilts is a strongly recommended addition to any personal, professional, academic, or community library needlecraft reference collection.

I have read a number of histories of frontier posts over the years and this one exceeds them all. Mr. Buecker provides an immense amount of detail on how Fort Robinson came into being and all that transpired there from 1874-1899. On that count, its past is far more interesting than that of some of the post-Sioux War posts such as Fort Meade or Fort Custer. Camp Robinson (as it was still known in 1877) was the scene for the dramatic and tragic death of Crazy Horse in September of that year. In January, 1879 Fort Robinson played host to another dramatic event as the Cheyenne imprisoned there after taking leave of their Oklahoma reservation attempted to break out and continue their journey to their traditional Montana homeland. The author provides a very good, concise telling of that event.

Beyond that, Mr. Buecker constantly reminds us that for most of the time, normal garrison duty occupied the various companies stationed there over the years. He does a very good job in describing what constituted the way of life for the officers and enlisted men stationed there. In the 1880s, the garrison included the famed Buffalo Soldiers of the Ninth U.S. Cavalry. He also explores the complex relationship that existed between the soldiers and the Lakota of the nearby Red Cloud agency during the early years of Robinson's existance. The relationships were varied and alive (for example, Chief Spotted Tail dined with offices in their quarters), not the one-dimensional, frontier soldiers hating/abusing the Indians as modern myth so often erroneously portrays late 19th century Frontier Military-Indian interaction.

If you are interested in the Sioux Wars, the frontier military, Crazy Horse, the Northern Cheyenne or the Buffalo Soldiers, you should not be disappointed in this book. It should be added that Mr. Buecker was well-prepared to tell the story of Fort Robinson since he serves as the curator of the Fort Robinson Museum in northwest Nebraska. I must also add that both the Museum and the present-day fort (now a state park) are well worth a visit.

Fort Robinson And The American West 1874-1899 by Thomas R. Buecker (Curator of the Fort Robinson Museum in Crawford, Nebraska) is a close and authoritative look at Fort Robinson, a place that witnessed many stark and brutal clashes between whites and American Indians, including the Cheyenne Outbreak, the death of Crazy Horse, the Ghost Dance, and the tragedy of Wounded Knee. Historic references, government records, reports, correspondence and other primary sources form the core of this thoughtful, sober, scholarly analysis, which is a welcome contribution to American History shelves, Native American Studies collections, those reading lists dealing with the history of the American Western Frontier.

Fort Robinson, located in northwestern Nebraska, played an important role in the affairs between the military and the Indians on the Plains. Thomas Buecker's history of the fort is both informative and a delight to read.

Fort Robinson was established in 1874 after troubles occurred at the nearby Red Cloud agency. Intended at first to be only a temporary cantonment, it wasn't long before the strategic importance of the fort was realized. Unable to stem the tide of gold prospectors into the Black Hills, soldiers from the fort played an important part in the Great Sioux War that followed. The successful expedition against Dull Knife was launched from there. In 1877, the fort witnessed one of its greatest tragedies when it became the place where Crazy Horse was stabbed and killed, although two years later this notoriety was almost matched when 64 Northern Cheyenne were killed when trying to escape. In the 1880s, the fort became the base of operations for the Ninth Cavalry, the "Buffalo Soldiers." The Ghost Dance uprising at nearby Pine Ridge in 1890 was the last great event involving troops at Fort Robinson. The fort became a sleepy reminder of times gone by by the end of the century when Buecker's account ends, though the fort was brought back to life during both World Wars as a supply and training center, and as a POW camp. Today it's a handsome park with an excellent small museum.

Buecker, who was (is still?) the curator of the Fort Robinson Museum, has written a wonderful book on the fort. Historically detailed, Buecker is also careful to relate what life was like for the soldiers who lived there. It gives an excellent view of not only a specific place, but of a time too. Also useful for historians is Appendix A in which Buecker lists all the military units that ever served at the fort. It's a great book on the American West. Highly recommended.

Bearing in mind the sweet honey of Derida's style, with which he writes and absents himself, we can say that Derrida has shown Hegel to be the last philosopher of the book and the first thinker of writing by the economic grace of his utterly perverted relationship with his sister, starting with the B column on Genet, who was misconstrued by Bataille and so by Sartre. The rose pricks the eagle.

Inter allya

Hegel's philosophy claims to be a presuppositionless witnessing to the self-transformations of being: Hegel does not himself speak in his philosophy, does not put forth theses, but simply gives voice to the indwelling expression of being itself. This is quite a claim--unprecedented in the history of philosophy. If Hegel is right, then one should be able to start anywhere, with anything, and, by letting it "speak for itself," one should be able to find the same things Hegel found. Again, if Hegel is right, everything is already spoken for within his philosophy. One way to interpret Derrida's _Glas_ is as a taking up of this invitation. "Is Jean Genet," Derrida might be thought to ask, "already written in Hegel's philosophy?" Derrida's book proceeds by a simple process: reading. He opens Hegel's book, and follows out the demands of reading it. _Glas_ is more or less a documenting of the thoughts that develop in a reading of Hegel: "If this is so, wouldn't this follow? And what about this?" Generally, Derrida's reading raises (progressively more subtle) challenges to Hegel's writing, and then, through continued reading, finds that Hegel's text has already anticipated and accommodated these challenges. And, indeed, as the reading then turns into a reading of Genet, it turns out that Genet's texts themselves give rise to the very dialectic Hegel articulates. This is an exceptionally difficult book. You cannot read it competently without a good knowledge of Hegel and without at least familiarity with Genet. Furthermore, to read it means to make yourself open to having your own views about Hegel (and also about Genet and also about Derrida) change. You must approach this book as Genet approaches the Gospel of John--like a miner entering a mine, unsure he'll get out of the mine again. This book is well worth the read for serious students of Continental Philosophy: both scholars and Hegel and scholars of Derrida will (if they make themselves open to it, and are rigorous) have their presumptions about the other philosopher challenged. Highly recommended, but do some preparation first.

Bearing in mind Derrida's honey-like style, with which both writes and absents himself, this book shows that in Truth Hegel is the last philosopher of the book and the first thinker of writing owing to his entirely transgressive relationship with his sister (whom he loved) by virtue of the influence of Genet's oeuvre (which is not a work), the latter clearly touching Hegel for the simple reason that his avatars and demons (Sartre, Bataille) misrecognized him, as though he were the sun which they dared not look upon for fear of blindess. The rose pricks the eagle and the eagle tumbles.

We traveled across Wyoming, down the Colorado-Nebraska border, crossed the narrow panhandle of Oklahoma, and continued southward through the high plains to Amarillo and Lubbock. It was long day. Temperatures reached 106 degrees. Our return from Wyoming to east Texas is never easy.

The great plains are awesome, stretching forever in all directions. Barb wire fences, lonely windmills, widely scattered cattle, and some isolated ranch and farm houses are among the few landmarks. How did the early pioneers react to this vast barrier extending from Mexico to Canada?

Walter Prescott Webb's acclaimed history, The Great Plains, is a fascinating examination of how our extensive plains shaped American history. For more than two hundred years settlers had pushed westward, largely along navigable rivers, and tamed a wilderness with the axe, the plow, and the rifle. But in the mid-1800s this westward movement encountered a new world, a vast expanse lacking forest, navigable rivers, and adequate rainfall. The lessons of the past few centuries proved irrelevant in this new, formidable wilderness.

Webb argues that the Spanish (and later the Mexicans) failure to colonize the area that is now western United States was due to their inability to defeat the plains Indians, especially the Apaches and Comanches in Texas. Travel from San Antonio to Santa Fe was not easy; the route was southward deep into Mexico to Durango and then back west and northward to Santa Fe. The direct route westward across the plains was Indian country.

As the American settlers ventured onto the plains after the Civil War, they were aided by an explosion of innovations, especially the Samuel Colt revolver (tipped the balance away from the Indians), the barb wire fence (made fencing possible), and the self-operating windmill (made water available). And the railroads made freight and livestock transportation possible between the sparsely populated great plains and the populated, industrialized eastern states.

Webb describes in exciting detail the short, remarkable period of the cowboys, the cattle drives, and the cattle barons. Indelibly engraved on the American psyche, this period was already history by 1930 as Webb offered his insightful thoughts on the settlement of our mid-continent.

I can think of only one other history of the American West that compares with this remarkable work, and that is that great book by Ray Allen Billington, Westward Expansion. Before your next travel across our endless plains, I encourage you to read Walter Prescott Webb's fascinating history of The Great Plains.

In the mid-1930s, this book won the Loubat Prize as the best work published over a five year period. In 1950, a national panel of historians selected The Great Plains as the most significant historical work by a living author. This book continues to receive attention as reflected in the bibliographies of current books dealing with aspects of the American West.

In 1893, historian Frederick Jackson Turner's essay "The Significance of the Frontier in American History," outlined his Frontier Theory. Turner asserted that the frontier was the decisive factor in creating an American nation distinct from other nations; that the frontier created dominant traits of individualism, freedom, materialism, originality, et. al. Turner called the frontier a "safety valve" of abundant resources which shopuld be exploited for the benefit of the national good. Turner's theory foresaw progress from the simple to the complex.

Webb's "The Great Plains" modifies Turner's theory by pointing out the steady progression of settlement westward from the timbered and well watered Atlantic Coast to the edge of the Great Plains; the 98th Meridian, an "institutional fault line." Webb contended the great plains were neglected until all lands that were timbered and well watered were taken; that pioneers "jumped" across to the Pacific Slope where they could also employ long-standing techniques that had been successful in the East.

Not until the post Civil War era were pioneers able to settle the great plains (characteristics: a level surface, an absence of timber, and a deficiency of rainfall), and then only by drastically altering or changing their previous frontier techniques. According to Webb, westerners on the great plains became progressive because they relied upon change in order to overcome their harsh environment. The pioneer used what was given him and the results astonished the world.

Great plains pioneers had to build houses without timber, burn fires without wood, carve furrows in soil so matted and tough an ordinary wood or iron plow would snag in the sod or skitter across its surface like a stick over ice, draw water from an arid or semi-arid land, and grow crops that could exist with little water. Webb contends adaptation and innovation in the development and use of new or existing products and techniques allowed the hardy pioneers to conquer their environment. In essence, often reverting from the complex to the simple - "geographic reality."

This book is interesting and easily read. Webb's research ranges from the Indians, Spaniards, Americans, cattle, and water - encompassing the esoteric and the simple. For example, he delves into the Land Law of the West, in all its complexity (written by Webb 68 years ago) and the parallel and distinct differences in sign language used by deaf mutes and the plains Indians.

Webb's scholarly research is reflected in the extensive bibliography that follows each chapter. The index is useful and annotated to identify areas of relationship when warranted.

The accolades given this book over the years is well deserved. Webb's innovative study is fascinating and expands the reader's knowledge of the great plains as it contains a wealth of information on the history of the region. Webb's later book "The Great Frontier" was also influential and controversial. Both books are the hallmark of Walter Prescott Webb's long and distinguished career.

So many people use the cliche "this is the best book I've ever read" when critiquing it. I mean it. This book, 70 years old this year, is a brilliant historical work. Webb calls the 98th meridian an "institutional fault line" that required alteration or abandonment of all the laws and implements used in pioneering east of the line. Webb offers the windmill, the six-shooter, and barbed wire as three examples of inventive genius that allowed pioneers to settle on the Great Plains. Webb cites Eastern land laws, as well as the old English common law, as impractical when used on the Plains. Interestingly, Webb states that the West was lawless in part because settlers had to disobey these impractical land laws in order to survive on the Plains. Webb examines the Great Plains from a multitude of angles to substantiate his thesis. He successfully defends it, and in the process creates a work that is of great interest to people from many walks of life.

If you're not into art, namely the movement known as surrealism, I'm not sure if you'd like this book; perhaps you would. This biography is about the bizarre life of early 20th century American surrealist oil painter Kay Sage. In describing Sage's life, author Judith Suther delves into feminist issues, aspects of European and American artists during the WWII era, privilege, and a not too shabby psycho-analysis of Sage's work and surrealism overall: in fact you might like this book if you're not into surrealist art, but in that case it would be a very esoteric book I imagine.

If, on the other hand, you're into art, and are not put off by surrealism, then you'll probably like this book a lot. I did. It's well represented by:

A) Presenting a passable biography of artist Kay Sage.
B) Presenting a passable psycho-analysis of Kay Sage's art.
C) Exploring contemporary feminist issues in the context of an early 20th century woman artist, who achieved some acclaim in a predominately male dominated art world.
D) Presenting fairly legible B&W and color plates of Sage's interesting art.
E) Presenting a passable history and definition of the surrealist school of art, and its transalantic American shift during WWII.

These aspects, not necessarily in this order, made the book enjoyable. Admittedly, I paint, and I place substantial significance on the philosophy of art, especially on the sub-category surrealism. On the one extreme, if you are oriented toward these criteria, this book is highly recommended; on the other, it might be an interesting read about an obscure early 20th century senator's daughter turned princess turned surrealist artist. The fact that Sage drilled her heart out with a pearl handled .32 at the bitter end lends a Hemingway-esque twist to this pseudo-lonely artist's tale; she apparently was a brassy broad inside (revealed in her poetry, which is also showcased in the book), with the exterior of fine French antique: which Sage was not, she was a good to great American artist, an individualist, and a pioneer (of herself, as well as her genre of art). Some of her finest works look frankly into the abyss.

In the final analysis, what kind of artist Sage was is ambiguous. She was a surrealist, yet she wasn't quite. She followed this school of art, yet created her own trademark icons. She really seemed to create a unique niche of her own within a genre. There's an enigma here that isn't easily defined. Were her works powerful, or subtle? That's up to the interpreter to decide.

This isn't the saddest life story I've read, but it is sadness at a most unusual point in the scale of melancholy. Riddled with irony, too. Almost 50 years to the day after Andre Breton commented that Sage's work 'must have been done by a man' Sage was not even listed by name in the surrealist art catalogs and none of her work was to be found in galleries or museums. Only a couple of solo shows and one painting at the 1958 World's Fair. Being the wife of a major surrealist such as Yves Tanguy did not bolster Kay Sage's career in art to say the least. Sage was already well-schooled in art before she met Yves and she came from a wealthy family. The images of her art shown in this book is well worth the money for the picures alone. It will show you 'unofficial personal surrealism' that Women and American Artists from all walks of life have had to face and overcome. Sage's work stands on it's own, yet the enigmatic energy of her ill-fated life and career are revealed in "A House Of Her Own".

The book has several illustrations of paintings, drawings, and early photos including interior/exterior photos of the home Sage and Tanguy shared in Woodbury, Connecticut.

For the Tanguy fans out there, this is a 'must read' book. Anyone that has sought out literature on the life of Yves Tanguy knows there isn't much to be found. A House Of Her Own reveals many details of a well-researched and authored biographer in Judith D. Suther.

About 25 years ago I bought a used edition of a fairly comprehensive history of surrealism. While looking for references to Yves Tanguy, my favorite artist, I saw a small, black and white reproduction of one of Sage's paintings and became equally intriqued by her work. There has never been a biography of Tanguy in English, so I was amazed and delighted when Philip Horowitz told me about this book. Judith Suther's research and writing would do any art historian proud. She has reconstructed Sage's fascinating, tragic life with remarkable detail and immediacy. I have only two minor reservations with this book. Suther adopt's some feminist art hstorians' cant that Sage has been denied due recognition because of her gender. But Tanguy himself is only somewhat better known-note the absence of even one English-language biography. My other reservation is the paucity of color illustrations. I know this book is from a university press and the attendant economics, but for the rather high price, there should be more color illos here. Still, I'm grateful for the miraculous existence of this invaluable book.