Kansas: The History of the Sunflower State, 1854-2000

by Craig Miner

Kansas is not only the Sunflower State, it's the very heart of America's heartland. It is a place of extremes in politics as well as climate, where ambitious and energetic people have attempted to put ideals into practice-a state that has come a long way since being identified primarily with John Brown and his exploits.

Craig Miner has written a complete and balanced history of Kansas, capturing the state's colorful past and dynamic present as he depicts the persistence of contrasting images of and attitudes toward the state throughout its 150 years. A work combining serious scholarship with great readability, it encompasses everything from the Kansas-Nebraska Act to the evolution-creationism controversy, emphasizing the historical moments that were pivotal in forming the culture of the state and the diverse group of people who have contributed to its history.

The History of the Sunflower State is the first new state history to appear in over twenty-five years and the most thoroughly researched ever published. Written to enlighten general readers within and well beyond the state's borders, it offers coverage not found in previous greater attention to its cities-notably Wichita-and to its south central and western regions, accounts of business history, contributions of women and minorities, and environmental concerns. It presents the dark as well as the bright side of Kansas progressivism and is the first Kansas history to deal with the post-World War II era in any significant detail.

Craig Miner has spent almost forty years researching, teaching, and writing Kansas history and has dug deeply into primary sources-especially gubernatorial papers-that shed new light on the state. That research has enabled him to assemble a wider cast of characters and more entertaining collection of quotations than found in earlier histories and to better show how individual initiative and entrepreneurial aspirations have profoundly influenced the creation of present-day Kansas.

Ranging from the days of cattle and railroads to the era of oil and agribusiness, this history situates the state in its own terms rather than as a sidebar to a larger American epic. Miner brings to its pages an identifiable Kansas character to preserve what is distinctive about the state's identity for future generations, echoing what one Kansan said over half a century "Kansas is simply Kansas. May she never be tempted to become anything else."

Genres: History, Nonfiction

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Kansas history from a localist lens.

This book was packed with great quotes from Kansans past. I underlined and earmarked many pages. I expect I will return to them soon in order to really digest them.

Today's Kansas is different than yesteryear's Kansas; however, that must not stop us from taking into ourselves our Kansas history and learning its spirit. Locating this spirit grounds us, makes us be able to act with wisdom. Read the conclusion of Miner's book to understand the importance of a history, like this one.

On the negative side, sometimes his organization and sentence structures were confusing. A bit more editing for clarity would have helped.

If you want a good overview of Kansas, this is your book.

Ad astra per aspera

[R.B. Nease · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wouldn't call this the complete history of Kansas, there is a lot missing. Not at all what I expected in a complete Kansas History book. Very few actual locations are given as to where the history occurred just names of current big cities really such as Hays, Wichita, Topeka, etc. The book was ok but I would use it to just polish the spots of historic knowledge that most people from Kansas already know, in fact it had a lot of citations from other articles and books.

[Rose Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice comprehensive history of Kansas for the general reader. Lots of citations from original sources.

[J.C. Shepard · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is impossible to follow. While the chapters address topics in essentially chronological order, the text within each chapter is all over the place. I would need to have memorized a traditional history of names-dates-places to have ANY idea what was going on in this book. While the author is obviously very well read and a decent writer (or I would have abandoned this in the first chapter), I know less about Kansas history now than when I started reading this tome. Ugh.

[Pablo Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is much information in this book, too much maybe. It reads like a dry list of people and events. I learned much about Kansas, but think that the book should have been a bit more flowing and focus more on personal stories.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 2 out of 5]

Project Read-a-History-of-Every-State-in-Order-of-Statehood #34

[Rose]

978.1 Min

[Roxanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Such a good complete history of Kansas. Never learned any of this in high school since I grew up in CA.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good one-volume history of a state that is more complex and interesting than people generally give it credit for being.

[Cws]

K-978.1Miner