Minnesota

John Radzilowski explores the history of the peoples - Native American, Scandinavian, French Canadian, German, Irish, Polish, and others - who have made the state what it is today. He examines the rich cultural histories of the Twin Cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul, as well as "outstate" Minnesota, which has its own distinct small-town heritage.

Library Journal

Politically, culturally, geographically, and historically, Minnesota is unique. Fortunately, Interlink's latest entry in its "On-the-Road-Histories" does the North Star State justice. Radzilowksi, a Minnesota native and historian, sprinkles his text with maps, photographs, cultural highlights, and events, and enhances the text with poems, songs, and interesting quotations (in 1837, for example, an itinerant teacher uttered, "Opened my school...The brats who attended for the purpose of being benefited amounted to thirty. Such a group of geniuses, I never saw before. May it never be my privilege to meet another"). Indeed, Radzilowski doesn't ignore the negative, describing a 1920 lynching and the many injustices endured by the state's Native Americans. But he points out that the state is also rich in sons and daughters: Walter Mondale, Hubert H. Humphrey, Judy Garland, and Prince, to name just a few. This slender and compact book is easy to use; the colored boxes emphasize must-see sights, including contact information and location, while the excellent photos can be touching, like one, dated 1930, of a Native American baby in a cradlebox (papoose). As Minnesotans would say in their understated way, "the state is a pretty good place." Essential for all libraries.-Susan G. Baird, Chicago Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.