Nebraska Moments

by Donald R. Hickey, Susan A. Wunder, John R. Wunder

Nebraska author Mari Sandoz remarked that most people see Nebraska as “that long flat state that sets between me and any place I want to go.” If so, they’re missing plenty, as this entertaining volume makes abundantly clear. Susan A. Wunder and John R. Wunder’s new, expanded, and updated edition of Donald R. Hickey’s classic account of defining Nebraska moments showcases triumph, tragedy, comedy, and accomplishments that could have happened nowhere else and that reveal the rich culture and history under the state’s deceptively quiet surface.

 

There are moments that shine—surviving the Oregon and Mormon trails; completing the Union Pacific Railroad; and winning national football championships, Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, and presidential nominations. There are also moments of darkness such as the murders of Crazy Horse, Malcolm X, and Brandon Teena; the lynchings of Will Brown and Juan Gonzalez; and the Blizzard of 1888. Together they evoke a dramatic history populated with the likes of Pedro Villasur, Willa Cather, and William Jennings Bryan. This new edition also mines Nebraska’s most recent history, adding to the ever-changing, ever-intriguing picture of this Great Plains state.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

428 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1992

About the author

Don Hickey is a professor of history emeritus at Wayne State College. He earned his B.A. in 1966, his M.A. in 1968, and his Ph.D. in 1972 from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Reviews

[Theresa Jehlik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I approached this book with trepidation because it looks and feels like a textbook, the prose flows quickly and well. Its 39 chapters range from the 1720 defeat of the Villasur Expedition by the Otoes and the Pawnees to the blizzard of 1888 to the Kearney Arch in 2005. Stories of memorable people like William Jennings Bryan, the Abbott Sisters, Malcolm X, Willa Cather, and General John J. Pershing are included in this book. Of course, no history of Nebraska would be complete without a chapter called "The University of Nebraska Football Champions" which details the careers of Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne. The reader will find interesting and historic information about this politically conservative, yet also populist, state in the middle of the U.S. This is the April 2018 selection of the Willa Cather Book Club.

[Tanja · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is another one of those little thrift store gems I keep finding. Almost forty well written short illustrations about historical and political people and moments in Nebraska. Definitely worth reading!

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring and it's only a two star because it's about Mt home state

[Jrohde · Rating 3 out of 5]

a well written history of Nebraska state - full of interesting tales of the early settlers, Indian heroes, political figures, authors, and the features of a very stalwart and typical mid-American society. A gift from Matt's mother - worth reading if you have an interest in Nebraska for any reason