The reviewer rates this as "a book too good to miss," for every Southwesterner, every visitor to any Indian ceremonial, every philosopher who ponders the eternal verities, and every youth of college age intent on sorting out the true values of life and setting up his own standards. And for the general reader, this book truly is one of inspiration and refreshment.

The subtitle states that it is the story of Edith Warner and Los Alamos, but it is more than that--the story of a woman who came for solitude and meditation to the New Mexican desert near the pueblo of San Ildefonso, only to find herself after years of peace, adjacent to the site of the laboratory where the atomic bomb was being developed by world famous scientists.

In this book one finds a trilogy of meaning. It provides a deep insight into the Indians as People (of the Indian nature as a part of the universality of humanity)--a revelation that glows with a quiet but brilliant incandescence throughout the book. One may perceive the true meaning behind the ancient ceremonials and rituals of the Indian culture--not as the child-like magic they might be labeled by the casual tourist--but the preparation of soul, spirit, and heart of a people attempting to establish a right and fruitful relationship with their gods, the earth and its elemental forces.

Secondly, the book points up for us the search of a living soul finding its Home-place in the world.

And thirdly, this rather slender volume depicts the beauty of a desert locale in a world at a time of no return--the last quiet years before titanic smoke-mushrooms roared into the sky, followed by those first post-atomic blast days of doubt, confusion, and rapidly re-arranging values.

The author writes with clarity and distinction, and in a highly readable style. She developed the book from material which won an award and was first published in the New Mexico Quarterly.

This is a book to read and re-read, and to place on one's shelf beside Mary Austin's Land of Little Rain and Land of Journey's Ending.

LAUREL B. BOETTO

This book with understanding and detail describes the history of a tribe of "unconquerable" Indians. The Kickapoos have exhibited a remarkably independent spirit and a deliberate hostility toward acculuration. The least significant parts of the book tell of the Kickapoos' frequent changes in allies and their depredations upon their many enemies. The causes for the seemingly inconsistent and at times random violence, were, in almost every instance, based upon broken promises and treaty violations on the part of land-hungry whites. The Kickapoos were warriors par excellence and played no small role in U.S. history both east and west of the Mississippi.

The most significant parts of the book relate the disgraceful dealings white men, often in positions of high honor, had with the Kickapoos. Three of the most flagrant of these shameful proceedings occurred in Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. The chapters in the book entitled "Kansas Land Sharks," "The Great Kickapoo Swindle," "Boomers on the Deep Fork" and "Shawnee Wolves" are unexcelled as an indictment of the white man's transactions with the American Indian.

The University of Oklahoma Press through the Civilization of the American Indian Series has chronicled in a fearless manner the stained pages of U.S. vs. Indian history. No other publishing company anywhere has as conscientiously printed accounts of the outrageous treatment accorded the Indian at the hand of his "civilized white brother." Surely Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma ought to suffer pangs of conscience whenever the word "Kickapoos" is mentioned. Unfortunately, few people, in or out of these states, are familiar with the extent of the rape of the Kickapoos.

Certainly one of the great needs in American history is the full reporting of exactly how the Indian was treated and how vast areas of land left Indian ownership. Existing textbooks, almost without exception, are wholly inadequate. The American people just do not know this part of American history.

When former United States Senators and Congressmen, even one who later became Vice-President, are directly implicated in the land grabs perpetrated upon the Kickapoos, it takes courage to write and even greater courage to print.

Whether or not the American public will even awaken to past injustices and the threat of present injustices to our first Americans is questionable, but if this awakening is ever to be realized it will be through such books as The Kickapoos.

ROBERT A. ROESSEL

A handsome volume which contains a series of drawings representing various Maya sites. These drawings portray the scenes as they looked a thousand or so years ago. In addition, Miss Proskouriakoff includes line drawings of the remains as they look today.

The book was first published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1946. The present volume is in a completely new format. An Album of Maya Architecture is another significant book which deals with the Maya published by the University of Oklahoma Press. Certainly students of the Maya are in debt to the University of Oklahoma Press for their continued interest in Middle American. civilizations.

ROBERT A. ROESSEL