Book Notes
William McKinley: A Bibliography. By Lewis L. Gould and Craig H. Roell.
(Westport, Connecticut: Meckler
Corporation, 1988. xvi + 238p.; illustration,
chronology, bibliography, indexes.)
Published as part of Meckler's Bibliogra-
phies of the Presidents of the United States 1789-1989,
edited by Carol
Bondhus Fitzgerald, this book represents
the first attempt to assemble a
"comprehensive guide to
writing" on McKinley's life and his years in office.
In this ambitious series, Meckler Corporation
has undertaken publication of
comprehensive bibliographies-each volume
compiled and researched by
leading scholars and following a uniform
format-on every US president from
George Washington through Ronald Reagan.
Each bibliography will include
manuscript and archival resources,
monographs, articles and interviews,
selected newspaper coverage,
dissertations, conference papers, government
documents, illustrations, and extensive
indexes. If Gould and Roell's McKinley
bibliography is any guide, the series
will be an important addition to presiden-
tial scholarship.
Ohio Historical Society Laura Russell
Historic Sites and Markers Along the
Mormon and Other Great Western
Trails. By Stanley B. Kimball. (Urbana: University of Illinois
Press, 1988. xviii
+ 320p.; illustrations, maps, appendix,
bibliography, index.) In this attractive
volume the author catalogs 550 historic
sites along 10,000 miles of emigrant
trails. Fifteen trails and their variants,
spanning the period from 1830-1869, are
described as they pass through fifteen
states from New York to California.
Included are some of the most famous
trails in American history, such as the
950 mile Sante Fe trail, which in 1987
was officially designated as a national
historic trail. The order of description
is based upon importance, geography,
and reader convenience. Because of the
strong interest in Mormon emigrant
history, nearly half of the sites in
Kimball's book refer to Mormons, Utah or
Salt Lake City. Not to be overlooked,
however, are the Mormon trails and
sites located in non-western states such
as New York, Ohio, Indiana, and
Missouri. Available in cloth or paper,
the volume is enhanced by 30 pages of
full-size maps depicting the routes of
the trails along with photographs of
selected markers, trail sites, and
geological landmarks. Examples of the latter
include Chimney Rock in Nebraska and
Picacho Peak in Arizona. Readers
interested in western history and
western migration patterns will find Kimball's
book a handy reference.
Ohio Historical Society Steve Gordon
Lima the history. By Eric Hirsimaki. (Edmonds, Washington: Hundman
Publishing, Inc., 1986. 351p.;
illustrations, roster.) Among railroaders, the
name "Lima" is synonymous with
the Lima Locomotive Works, maker of
distinctive Shay engines and developer
of modern super power steam locomo-