History of South Dakota

by Herbert S. Schell, John E. Miller

Herbert S. Schell provides a picture of South Dakota's political, economic, social, and environmental history, identifying the local, regional, national, and global forces that shaped the fortieth state through World War II. John E. Miller picks up the story at the beginning of the Cold War and chronicles the rest of the twentieth century.

Genres: History

425 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1975

Reviews

[Sherrie]

So, here's the thing. South Dakota has a really interesting history. The Battle of Little Big Horn, the Black Hills gold rush, the Titan missiles, etc...but this author seems to only care about the ballot counts for state and local politicians and what farm bills they proposed. It is like he wants people to dislike his book.

[Chad Lamb]

The section on the state's 20th and 21st century history was rather lacking. Lots of stuff missing in here (how can you only have a brief one or two-sentence mention of the carving of Mt. Rushmore?) The modern era of South Dakota history seemed to fly by as if few important things have happened in the state in the last 70 years. Schell did his part, but Miller came up short.

[MarkedWoman]

While it seems to be the best available South Dakota history book I could find, this book is a slog. The discussions of South Dakota political minutiae are especially eye glazing. I hope someone decides it’s time for an update and produces a more interesting volume.

[J.M. Hushour]

Project Read-a-History-of-Every-State-in-Order-of-Statehood #40