USD Prof. Jon Lauck Signing Collection of New Perspectives on SD History

DDR Books will host the launch party for “Old Trails and New Roads in South Dakota History,” with signings by the editor, USD professor Jon K. Lauck, Tuesday, April 11, 7-9 pm.

Rhodes Professor of History at the University of Oxford Pekka Hämäläinen leads off this collection of new perspectives on South Dakota history with a stunning interpretation of Lakota power in the Northern Plains. With their mastery of the horse, the Lakota mounted “an expansive and constantly shapeshifting Indigenous regime that controlled human fates in the North American interior for generations,” writes Hämäläinen.

The essays that follow take up a variety of topics on South Dakota history: • Borders, by Thomas D. Isern • Railroads, by H. Roger Grant • Weather, by Christopher R. Laingen • West River Country, by John Henris • Wildlife and Parks, by Frank Van Nuys • Radical Tradition, by Jeffrey A. Johnson • German-Language Press, by Samantha M. Litty • Changing Foodways, by Sara Egge • Sports, by Paul Higbee • Hunting and Fishing, by Lance Nixon • American Indian Movement, by Carson Walker • Movies, by Jon D. Schaff.

Publication of “Old Trails and New Roads in South Dakota History” was made possible, in part, by a major gift from Jan Hovey Johnson and Reliabank.

Jon K. Lauck is the past president of the Midwestern History Association, teaches history and political science at the University of South Dakota, and is Editor-in-Chief of “Middle West Review.” He has authored or edited several books, including “The Lost Region: Toward a Revival of Midwestern History,” “Daschle vs. Thune: Finding a New Midwestern History,” and three volumes of “The Plains Political Tradition.”

DDR Books is located at 7 S. Maple in Downtown Watertown.