Nebraska Books

Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen

Bob Greene

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Job Hunting & Careers -> Volunteer Work
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 20th Century -> 1945 - Present
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 20th Century -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 56 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Millions of American soldiers, many of whom had never left their hometowns before, crossed the nation by rail during the years of World War II on their way to training camps and distant theaters of battle. In a little town in Nebraska, countless thousands of them met with extraordinary hospitality--the "miracle" of veteran journalist Bob Greene's title. "The best America there ever was. Or at least, whatever might be left of it." So Greene writes of North Platte, now a quiet town along the interstate, its main street all but dead. It was a quiet town then, too, at the outbreak of the war, but still a hive of activity as its citizens gathered to provide, at their own expense, coffee, sandwiches, books, playing cards, and time to the scared young men who rolled through by the trainload, "telling them that their country cared about them." Greene's pages are full of the voices of those who were there, soldiers and townspeople alike, who took part in what amounted to small acts of heroism, given the shortages and rationing of the time. Greene, generous in his praise if rather disheartened by the modern world, against which he contrasts the past, turns in a remarkable account of the home front. It deserves the widest audience. ---Gregory McNamee

The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder: And Other True Stories from the Nebraska-Pine Ridge Border Towns (Plains Histories) (Plains Histories) (Plains Histories)

Stew Magnuson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The long-intertwined communities of the Oglala Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation and the bordering towns in Sheridan County, Nebraska, mark their histories in sensational incidents and quiet human connections, many recorded in detail here for the first time.
After covering racial unrest in the remote northwest corner of his home state of Nebraska in 1999, journalist Stew Magnuson returned four years later to consider the larger questions of its peoples, their paths, and the forces that separate them. Examining Raymond Yellow Thunder's death at the hands of four white men in 1972, Magnuson looks deep into the past that gave rise to the tragedy. Situating long-ranging repercussions within 130 years of context, he also recounts the largely forgotten struggles of American Indian Movement activist Bob Yellow Bird and tells the story of Whiteclay, Nebraska, the controversial border hamlet that continues to sell millions of cans of beer per year to the "dry" reservation.
Within this microcosm of cultural conflict, Magnuson explores the odds against community's power to transcend misunderstanding, alcoholism, prejudice, and violence.

The Blizzard Voices

Ted Kooser

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Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Poetry -> Anthologies
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Voices from the Storm 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This book introduces us to some of the people affected by one of Nebraska's huge snowstorms. With Kooser's permission, I presented a readers' theatre version of "Blizzard Voices" before he published the book. The AAUW audience in Florida had trouble suspending their disbelief, but the voices were so strong they were moved in spite of themselves. I've visited the Plainview, Nebraska, cemetery where some of the victims of this storm are buried. As a teacher, of course, I was most affected by the vignette of the young schoolteacher who tried to save her little students. As a Nebraska native, I fumed because so many of these people elected to try to get home instead of staying put--in shelter. Kooser's work is a Nebraska lode.

Editorial Review:

This book is a collection of poems recording the devastation unleashed on the Great Plains by the blizzard of January 12, 1888. The Blizzard Voices is based on the actual reminiscences of the survivors as recorded in documents from the time and written reminiscences from years later. Here are the haunting voices of the men and women who were teaching school, working the land, and tending the house when the storm arrived and changed their lives forever.

Then Osborne Said to Rozier

Steve Richardson

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Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> State & Local -> Nebraska

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In Lincoln, Nebraska, each entrance to Memorial Stadium welcomes fans with this message: "Through these gates pass the Greatest Fans in college football." And Nebraska football has provided generations of loyal fans with good reason to cheer, "Go Big Red!" From modest beginnings in 1890, Midwestern powerhouse Nebraska has forged a football dynasty that has earned five national titles and countless conference championships. Once called the "mankilling mastodons" by an Eastern newspaper, the Cornhuskers actually received their nickname in 1899 courtesy of Charles "Cy" Sherman, sports editor of the Nebraska State Journal at the time. Coach Walter C. "Bummy" Booth led the team to early dominance and established a winning tradition maintained by Nebraska coaching legends including Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne, and Frank Solich.

"Then Osborne Said to Rozier..." chronicles more than four decades of the greatest Nebraska football stories as told by coaches, players and fans--from the growth of Memorial Stadium under Bob Devaney to the tumultuous tenure of Bill Callahan. Authored by veteran football writer Steve Richardson, "Then Osborne Said to Rozier..." offers an insider's view of the most important people and moments in Cornhuskers football history. Along the way, Nebraska fans will enjoy reading about the greatest stars from the team's stories past--including Johnny Rogers, Barry Alvarez, Mike Rozier, Irving Fryar, Turner Gill, and Ahman Green--and learning why they are proud to be Cornhuskers.

Even the most dedicated Nebraska fans will discover something new about their beloved Cornhuskers. Learn the story of the Gotham Bowl, how Bob Devaney revolutionized team practices, Tom Osborne's favorite trick plays, the recruitments of the Triplets, the magic of Tommie Frazier, and the legacy of tradition that packs Memorial Stadium with scarlet-clad Nebraska football fans each fall. This book is a testament to the Cornhuskers family, tradition, and history.

What It Means to Be a Husker (What It Means to Be ...)

Tom Osborne

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Don't be misled... 1 out of 5 stars.
4 of 7 people found this review helpful.

This book IS NOT by Tom Osborne. It includes a foreword by Coach Osborne, but the cover and listing on Amazon are clearly intended to mislead people into thinking the book was authored by Tom Osborne. Nice marketing strategy, but bad publishing practice!

to be a husker 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The best book on Husker football history! Great memories from the greatest Nebraska players. I would recommend to any Husker fan or anyone who appreciates college football.

Great gift for the Husker fan 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I bought this book for my husband who is a long time Husker fan. He loved it and read it non-stop after receiving it. He told me it is a wonderful gift for any Husker fan and has given him new insights and information about the Husker team. However, he would have liked to have more pictures, especially color ones, to go with the articles since it is a collector piece to him. I would still recommend the book for Husker fans.

Editorial Review:

There’s nothing quite like wearing the red and white of Nebraska football, and only the chosen few can comprehend the feelings of pride, loyalty, and honor that define the experience. What It Means to Be a Husker captures that feeling through first-person accounts and recollections from legendary coach Tom Osborne and the greatest players ever to wear the Nebraska uniform.

Old Jules (Third Edition)

Mari Sandoz

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Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Regional U.S. -> Midwest
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Old Jules sucks old balls 1 out of 5 stars.
4 of 15 people found this review helpful.

It's a long, boring book about some old dirt farmer out in bumf&*k, Nebraska beating his wife and having kids he doesn't love. The end.

I've read better books 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Old Jules is not a bad book, it's just too long for one thing. The characters and their lifestyle are quite unique but their lackluster day to day existence needn't have taken up so many pages. If you want gripping, white-knuckle excitement, look elsewhere. The book is interesting from a historical point of view maybe but it just wasn't my kind of read. (Ho-hum........)

Editorial Review:

First published in 1935, Old Jules is unquestionably Mari Sandoz’s masterpiece. This portrait of her pioneer father grew out of “the silent hours of listening behind the stove or the wood box, when it was assumed, of course, that I was asleep in bed. So it was that I heard the accounts of the hunts,” Sandoz recalls. "Of the fights with the cattlemen and the sheepmen, of the tragic scarcity of women, when a man had to ‘marry anything that got off the train,’ of the droughts, the storms, the wind and isolation. But the most impressive stories were those told me by Old Jules himself.” This Bison Books edition includes a new introduction by Linda M. Hasselstrom.

Nebraska Football: The Greatest Games, Players, Coaches, And Teams in the Glorious Tradition of Cornhusker Football (Game Day)

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Subjects -> Sports -> Football (American) -> College & University
Subjects -> Sports -> Football (American) -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

THE MOST DOMINANT TEAM OF THE 80'S & 90'S 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Things have been pretty tough for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in recent years. In 2004 they suffered their first losing season in over 40 years, breaking the nation's longest streak in that area. But it would be hard to argue with anyone who claimed that Nebraska was the most dominant team of the 80's and 90's, compiling an eye-popping record of 211 wins against just 36 losses, averaging less than one loss per year in those two decades. Of course the man at the helm for all but the last two seasons of the 90's was the great Tom Osborne. Nebraska Football is of course the subject of this latest offering from Triumph Books and Athlon Sports in their Game Day series, dedicated to the greatest program in college football.

On thing that really makes Nebraska unique is that they don't have the benefit of professional sports or even another large university in their state to compete with. In Nebraska, the Cornhuskers are it and it is one of the great atmospheres in all of sports. The book follows the same formula as the rest in the series, beginning with a look at the Traditions and pageantry of NU football, including their famous red sea of fans, garbed in crimson, and the blackshirt defense as it has become known. I for one never knew the story and origin behind the blackshirt defense until I read this book.

Nebraska's great players reads like who's who of college football greats: Tommie Frazier, Turner Gill, Eric Crouch, Johnny Rodgers, Mike Rozier, Grant Wistrom, Will Shields, and many more. When it comes to coaches, two names stand out, and what a pair they are! Bob Devaney took over in 1962 after Nebraska had finished 3-6-1 the previous year. NU would not have another losing season for over 40 years! Devaney went 101-20-2 and winning 8 conference titles, and two national championships. He turned the team over to Tom Osborne who would do even better with a record of 255-49-3 and three national championships. From 1994-1997, Osborne's teams lost only two games.

Relive some of NU's greatest games including the 1971 "Game of the Century" showdown with rival Oklahoma, won by the Huskers 35 - 31, the 1995 Orange Bowl win over Miami, and the miraculous overtime win over Missouri in 1997 that preserved an unbeaten season. You'll thrill to many more great moments and rivalries in this thrilling look at Nebraska football.

As with all of Triumph's books it sparkles with fantastic black & white and color photography and is personalized by reflections from former players and coaches. Even if you're not a fan of NU, you can't help but respect them.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Editorial Review:

The names are oh, so familiar to fans of college football. Johnny Rodgers. Dave Rimington. Mike Rozier. Tommie Frazier. Eric Crouch. Grant Wistrom. Those names and countless others have given Nebraska football an unmatched tradition and legacy of greatness and made football Saturdays high holy days in the Cornhusker State.

In this book, we’ve attempted to distill that tradition of greatness into words and pictures. It’s a daunting task. Few programs inspire the loyalty and passion that Nebraska football exacts from its fans, and with good reason.

Nebraska: An Illustrated History, Second Edition (Great Plains Photography)

Frederick C. Luebke

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Nebraska's history in pictures 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

An oversized, very handsomely illustrated history of Nebraska. There is some text, but the emphasis is on the photographs depicting various time periods in the state's development. There are 5 major sections: before statehood, the fledgling state, the emergence of modern Nebraska (1890-1930), drought and war (1930-1970), and the most recent technological era (1970-present). The photos are far-ranging and include famous people, forts, Native Americans, early town and city growth, natural formations, Dust Bowl scenes, cowboy and farm life, and the most recent developments. It's a fun book to look at and would grace anyone's coffeetable, Cornhusker or otherwise.

Editorial Review:

A unique history of Nebraska is presented in these pages, drawing on fifty-eight short topical chapters and a rich gallery of illustrations. Professor Frederick C. Luebke’s lifelong commitment to the study of his state informs the book in every detail, as does his concern for clear and readable narrative. The treasure trove of images, many never published before, cast new light on many aspects of Nebraska’s history. These include the culture of the state’s Native peoples and their lives today, the building of the transcontinental railroad, the hardship endured by European immigrants, and the contributions of women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans to the state. This is a book that every Nebraskan will want to own, read, and enjoy.

This second edition includes updated chapters on the current social, economic, and political climate of Nebraska and some new illustrations.

Going West!: Quilts and Community

Sandi Fox

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Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> History & Criticism -> General
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Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> General

Editorial Review:

Going West: Quilts and Community Along the Trail reveals the essential role that quilts and the making of quilts played in the lives of women on the frontier.

The Expansion of Everyday Life, 1860-1876

Daniel E. Sutherland

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Expansion of Everyday Life: 1860-1876 portrays ordinary Americans swept up in an era of social and geographical expansion. During this period, five states joined the Union -- Kansas, West Virginia, Nevada, Nebraska, and Colorado -- and the population reached nearly forty million. The westward movement was given a boost by the completion of the first intercontinental railroad, and migration from farms and villages to towns and cities increased, accompanied by a shift from rural occupations and crafts to industrial tasks and trades. Overall, the pursuit of middle-class status became a driving force. As this book illustrates, however, most people, though affected by the major upheavals of history, simply pursued their personal lives. Sutherland chronicles dating and marriage customs, the dangers and discomforts of mining, and life in the gambling dens, saloons, dance halls, and "cathouses" of the period. Through extensive quotations from diaries, letters, and the popular press, the reader glimpses an American middle class just beginning to grope its way toward the modern world.