From the word go, the Nebraska story is an adventure story. No matter at what point you chance to pick it up—on the epic of the cattleman's Long Drive or the homesteader's struggle to tame the Wild Land; on the dust and dash of the Pony Express or the roar of jets streaking across the wide Nebraska skies—the elements of melodrama are always there, action and suspense are forever present, the chips are constantly down.
Culled from more than a thousand books and articles, the ninety-odd pieces comprising Roundup: A Nebraska Reader were selected for their richness in human interest, historical significance, and entertainment value. Here is the Nebraska of native Nebraska writers—Willa Cather, Mari Sandoz, Bess Streeter Aldrich—and Nebraska as seen by a host of "visiting firemen," among them Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, A.G. Macdonell, Emily Post, Lucius Beebe, and John Gunther. Here are Nebraska and Nebraskans viewed sometimes dispassionately, sometimes with affectionate prejudice, by outsiders and insiders, contemporary participants and second-guessers.
A book taking into account the paradoxical qualities which add up to the sum total of this many-faceted state has required the collective effort of many individuals. And while no single volume can pretend to tell the whole Nebraska story, Roundup will go far to convince its readers that there is indeed no place like Nebraska.
"This potpourri of Nebraska as seen by native sons and visiting firemen provides a fine sampling for those interested in Americana."—Saturday Review
(Saturday Review)
"Enormously readable."—Chicago Sunday Tribune
(Chicago Sunday Tribune)
"Can you capture a state, its vigorous culture, its past, present, probably future and its people on the printed page? You can, and this enchanting book proves it."—Victor P. Hass
(Victor P. Hass)
"Gives the richness of Nebraska, for not only its native sons but for readers interested in deepening their awareness of the American scene."—Bulletin, Virginia Kirkus' Service
(Bulletin, Virginia Kirkus' Service)
"Roundup is grand reading. It runs to 493 pages and I didn't encounter a dull page in it."—Omaha World-Herald
(Omaha World-Herald)
"The equally fine views of the present and glimpses of the future are of great value to the student and the historian. But more importantly this is a book . . . for everyone who takes pleasure and interest in reading. I recommend it with all my heart."—Mignon G. Eberhart
(Mignon G. Eberhart)
"Well selected, well edited, and very readable. An outstanding regional publication and interesting for collectors of American and Western lore."—Jessie Kitching, Publishers Weekly
(Jessie Kitching Publishers Weekly)
