| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 110.2

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 110.2 | The History Cooperative

James R. Shortridge. Cities on the Plains: The Evolution of Urban Kansas. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. 2004. Pp. xiv, 480. $45.00.
"Urban Kansas," to most Americans, sounds like a witty, sardonic oxymoron. In the popular imagination, Kansas is amber waves of grain and little else. But, as James R. Shortridge makes clear, the story of urbanization in that state presents a significant case study in how cities develop, prosper, and decline. In this meticulously researched, exhaustively detailed work, Shortridge demonstrates that theories alone cannot account for urban development; certain intangibles complicate the story because, as he says in his final sentence, "community pride is a powerful force."	1
This book illuminates a comprehensive historical narrative against the backdrop of several theories of development and models for growth. Shortridge summarizes these approaches in his introduction, and it is clear that he is abundantly familiar with the strengths and shortcomings of each. Methodologically, he chose to include each of the 118 Kansas cities that have, at some point in their development, boasted more than twenty-five hundred residents. Casting such a wide net, Shortridge's analysis is necessarily encyclopedic, presenting a series of comparisons between Kansas cities heretofore unknown to many out-of-state readers.	. . .

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