"This segment of Missouri history is a fascinating time of strong leaders, of sectional conflicts within the state, and of a booming frontier economy. . . . It recounts the hectic years of fur traders and slave traders, the time of the Honey War with Iowa, the time of the persecution and harassment of the Mormons, the settlement of the Germans in mid-state, the development of improved agriculture, and through it all the pervading presence of the hot-tempered, vain, ever-preaching Thomas Hart Benton, whose personality and political power permeated the years. It is a solid book and a worthy addition to the published histories of the state."—Western Historical Quarterly