8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Utah History from A to Z, July 29, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Utah History Encyclopedia (Hardcover)
The Utah History Encyclopedea, edited by Allan Kent Powell, and published by University of Utah Press (1994), has proved to be my number one source for research on the history and Native American studies in Utah.
I am an archaeologist and have been working in Utah quite a bit over the last three years. While I had some knowledge of the prehistory and Native American Tribes of southern Utah, I did not have any specific knowledge of the history of Utah, its founders, historic events, towns, or cities. Each of the reports I write (typically for government agencies)needs to have an Archaeoogical/Historical/Cultural Context section. I have used this book hundreds of times in the last three years. While not all of the information I need is contained in the book, each section and article has a suggested bibliography which I can use to find additional information.
Although this is a reference book, I find that I frequently enjoy reading articles which are not related to my research. While it has proved to be an enourmous resource for my research, its articles are written in lay terms, which anyone might enjoy who is interested in the history, prehistory, or Native American of Utah and the West.
I highly recommend it to the general public and my colleagues.
Deborah Dosh Director Kinlani Archaeology, Ltd. P.O. Box 67 Flagstaff, Arizona 86002 (520) 526-9797
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Holy cow, what a monster!, October 4, 2005
This review is from: Utah History Encyclopedia (Hardcover)
This book is an enormous, enormously readable encyclopedia of a book. It's thorough, has a huge variety of entries, contains information I've found nowhere else, and is well worth paying for for any fan of the West, of the Four Corners states, and of Utah in particular.
Its entries on various mountain ranges, mines, periods of history, Indian tribes, historical personages, legends, towns, cities, controversies, scandals, religious movements, and area wildlife are thorough, fascinating, good reading.
Each entry is written by a different western writer, and so the entries read like spellbinding (though fact-filled) stories, not like boring, dry, textbook accounts.
Some of the entries, however--such as the entry on missing 1934 artist-photographer Everett Ruess--were not fact-checked well enough, and so constitute the book's only weaknesses.
Overall though, the book is worth any price you could pay for it. Don't be surprised if you pick it up to look up the Henry Mountains and keep on reading clear through I and J. It's that good.
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