Arizona: A History

Sheridan makes the history (which I've always found to be boring)of Arizona interesting. His wit in writing keeps my attention. He talks of the people of Arizona like he knew them personally and makes me want to meet them. He gives a thorough review of time from Arizona's earliest known history of the Hohokom peoples, early industries, issues involed with statehood to more recent history including the establishment of national parks and tourism. Sheridan explains how Arizona's politics have been shaped by large industries mainly mining. This in an excellent and enlightening read even if you aren't much interested in history.

I've lived in Arizona most of my life, and had a good general background understanding of information on earlier times in Arizona. This book really helped to fill in a lot of blanks, and explained things in a very sensible, well-thought-out manner. Starting in pre-historic times, leading into the early Native American migrations and settlements in the Southwest, on to Spanish exploration and colonial days, followed by Mexican and then American ownership of this territory - all of this is well laid out, and well researched and explained.I would highly recommend this book for any resident of Arizona, anyone interested in early history, and especially for anyone with interest in how we ended up where we are today.

I've read several books on Arizona history and in many ways this is one of the best. I think that there are several things that set this book apart. First, it is very thorough. Each of its 400 plus pages is filled with fact and information. Additionally, it covers some topics in more depth than similar books. For example, this book contains a lot of information about early Hispanic settlers, their history and impact on the state. Other texts seem to focus more on the history of European settlers who came to the state. It also seems that the author spent a lot of time researching this book from original records and documents. He is not just restating information found in other history books. If I had to come up with a negative for this book it's that the writing style leans toward being "academic." If you're looking for a "fun" book on Arizona, full of colorful stories or humorous anecdotes, then this is not the book for you. However, if you really want to learn about the state's history then this book should be part of your collection.