RANDY STAPILUS is editor and publisher of Ridenbaugh Press, edits the Idaho Weekly Briefing and the Snake River Basin Adjudication Digest and has written a number of books about Idaho, including Paradox Politics, the Idaho 100 (with Martin Peterson), Governing Idaho (with James Weatherby) and the Idaho Political Field Guide. He worked for newspapers in Boise, Pocatello, Nampa, Lewiston and Coeur d’Alene, and his weekly column on Idaho politics runs in several Idaho newspapers. After living in Idaho for about 30 years, he and his wife Linda now live in Carlton, Oregon.
This is an fascinating look into what made Idaho the way it is. Stapilus delves into 33 events (not 31 as mentioned in the description), including the first city lit by atomic power (Arco), the Teton Dam flood, and the capital being whisked away to Boise from Lewiston. It is very easy to read and really interesting.
A fun, entertaining look at Idaho history that reads more like an epic adventure of short stories. Clean enough content that I am comfortable sharing with my older child and plan on adding this book to our summer reading list. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who would like to learn more about my home state. Thank you!
This was an awesome book for the fact that I love history and really enjoyed reading about what made Idaho Idaho. I will certainly have to go find this series again for the other states I have lived in and perhaps even find this series when I travel. I've always been interested in finding out the history of places I travel to. Certainly there is bias here in the fact that some things are included and some things aren't. There's always bias when determining what if important and what isn't. But it was fairly comprehensive to my knowledge and I learned a lot of interesting things. I highly recommend finding your particular state in this series.
Great short book with 2-3page stories about historical events that helped shape the state of Idaho. I am now motivated to go visit each location from each story and photograph them for my own personal nerdery. :-)