Pekka Hämäläinen, Rhodes Professor of History at the University of Oxford, 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