Well, the intro and some of the first chapter were great. Very poignant observations & articulate arguments. Once Lauck starts to detail reasons to support his arguments, it's gets very boring very fast. Do we really need to know that (for example) Iowa rescinded black laws in 1870, but Nebraska waited until 1872? And then multiply that by every Midwest state and every law? The topics he's discussing are very important and help illustrate his premise of the Midwestern states being a sort of American democracy utopia, but I think he gets bogged down in the details. I would like to hear his take on the Midwest in the 20th century as well....maybe a complete history of the Midwest from Northwest Ordinance to today? 3.5 but not a full 4.0 ( )