Books Received

Books Received William M. Anderson. The Detroit Tigers: A Pictorial Celebration of the Greatest Players and Moments in Tigers History. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2016. Pp. 343. Illustrations. Index. Cloth: $39.99. This is the fifth edition of Tigers history published by Wayne State University Press. One certainly does not have to be a baseball fan to appreciate the captivating photos (over 500 of them) and chapters on each decade from 1881 through to 1914. Anderson ends with his selection of the top thirty-five players for his Tigers “Hall of Fame.” An impressive volume. Dave Baron, Pembroke: A Rural, Black Community of the Illinois Dunes. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2016. Pp. 234. Bibliography. Illustrations. Index. Notes. Paper: $26.50. Baron tells the tale of this rural Black community by listening to the stories of its residents. Pembroke Township lies about sixty miles north of Chicago just near the Indiana border. It was founded after the Civil War by migrants, many of them escaping the crush of Chicago only to find their dreams of farming drift away with the glacial sandy soil. This fifty-square mile area is home to only just a little over two thousand residents but it still qualifies as one of the largest rural Black communities in the North. It is also one of the poorest with only about a third finding work and an average annual income less than half the Illinois average. Baron seeks to find out how this place has survived and his visits reveal a colorful town of survivors and provides an insightful look at a different side of Black northern communities. Eric Cregni, Let’s Go Fishing: Fish Tales From the North Woods. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2016. Pp. 221. Bibliography. Illustrations. Cloth: $39.95. You don’t have to be a fishing aficionado (try saying that three times fast) to enjoy this fun volume devoted to this most sacred of pastimes. Eric Dregni has amassed hundreds of colorful and intriguing illustrations to tell this tale of fishing in the north. Chapters cover a myriad of necessary 130 The Michigan Historical Review equipment and visual mementos of doctored postcards, prank photos, and beer ads. There is serious stuff here too, such as the consequences of stocking invasive species and a solid (excuse the pun) look at ice fishing, but it is the lighter, social side of fishing—the recipes, the festivals (can you say smelt wrestling?), and the giant fish monuments to Muskie and Walleye that dot the Upper Midwest that stayed with this reader. Well recommended, and remember ‘Good things comes to those who bait…’ Dave Dempsey and Jack Dempsey. Ink Trails II: Michigan’s Famous and Forgotten Authors. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2016. Pp. 170. Illustrations. Notes. Paper: $22.95 Four years after the first Ink Trails was published, the volume picks up the thread and leads the reader through a host of authors, seventeen in all, from well-known names like Hemingway and Russell Kirk to a literary assortment of homey poets, adventurists, newspaper reporters, children’s authors, and novelists. The Dempseys have included a ‘Sites’ section with each chapter so one can actually ‘trail’ their favorites. As well, chapter bibliographies will no doubt whet the appetite of many a reader who will come away from this little book with long lists of ‘must-reads.’ Annette B. Dunlap, Charles Gates Dawes: A Life. Evanston: Northwestern Press, 2016. Pp. 317. Bibliography. Illustrations. Index. Notes. Paper: $24.95. Dunlap, like many of us, admits she knew little about Dawes when she started the research for this biography. But this Ohio-born, wealthy Chicago banker played a key role in several important political developments of the early twentieth century. He was our nation’s youngest ever Comptroller of the Currency (appointed by McKinley), and he later served in World War I, despite being over fifty, when Pershing appointed him head of all purchasing for the American Expeditionary Force. He most notably headed the Dawes Commission assigned to negotiate war reparations (which earned him a Nobel Peace Prize) and became Coolidge’s Vice President and, later, Ambassador to the UK. After the crash he turned his attention...