Customer Reviews

Faded Dreams: More Ghost Towns of Kansas

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This was the long-awaited sequel to Ghost Towns of Kansas: A Travellers Guide, which came out in 1988. The Travellers Guide was actually a greatest hits packaging of the first three volumes, which were published from 1976-1983.

Essentially, this was the first book of all new material in about ten years. The book is a fun read, although it is uncertain whether Fitzgerald wanted this to be a travellers guide in the true sense of the word, or a true history. It is very successful as a true history, keeping the audience's attention throughout. As a travellers guide, the explorer will need more directions than this book.

This book follows 18 years of enormous success by the author with the ghost town series. It is hard to figure out which is better known-- the author or the series. Both were nearly household names in Kansas for years. The enormous success of the travellers guide almost dictated that this book would be created. Again, not meant for a cover to cover read, but a read in small doses.

While a big success on its own, this book is a little darker, a little more political in its overall statement. The introduction is probably one of the best features of the book, where Fitzgerald basically states that, if a small town can not sustain its existence on its own, then it deserves ghost town status.

This book examines a hundred different ghost towns around the state and there's a fun story about each one.

Nothing substantial on Kansas history has really been written, and has been as much fun to read, since this book was published. Mr. Fitzgerald, you are overdue for a sequel. Thousands of your fans are bored out here. Write Ghost Towns 6 before we become ghosts out of boredom with the literature we're getting these days.

Really good book, recommended.

This is a sequel to Fitzgerald's GHOST TOWNS OF KANSAS, which appeared in 1988. The format of this book is the same as the earlier one: sections of the state are presented and then counties within each section, with the "lost" towns being listed by county. The descriptions of each town is thorough and interesting, with many photographs being included. Anyone interested in local history of Kansas will find this (and the earlier volume) indispensible. Both books represent two of the best guides to local history now available.