Santa Fe: 400 Years, 400 Questions

This question-and-answer book about Santa Fe, New Mexico contains 400 reminders of what is known and what is sometimes forgotten or misunderstood about a city that was founded more than four hundred years ago. Not a traditional history book, this group of questions is presented in an apparently random order, and the answers occasionally meander off topic, as if part of a casual conversation. What you find here will stimulate your curiosity and invite debate about what history is. References follow each entry. Black-and-white illustrations, photographs, maps, an index, and study guides further enliven this unconventional approach. A compilation of four hundred questions cannot attempt to encompass all of Santa Fe's history, but the bibliography extends an invitation to read more and connect to different topics. Also included is a game (''What Is It?'') scattered throughout the text.

Elizabeth West, the editor of this book, is a newcomer to Santa Fe, having arrived in 1966. Her first job in Santa Fe was as a waitress, working as a modern-day version of a ''Harvey Girl'' at La Fonda. She was born in Boston, but her children and grandchildren were born in Santa Fe. She worked at the Santa Fe Public Library off and on for over twenty-five years. During 2010 she served on the History Task Force for the Santa Fe 400th Committee for the Commemoration of the 400th Anniversary of the founding of Santa Fe.