Neal Peirce has done it again. The Great Plains States of America is a special dividend a superb companion for those who have enjoyed his Megastates, Mountain States, and Pacific States. It is sensitive, scholarly, and written with a breathtaking pace a masterful orchestration of politics, culture, biography, and subtleties of the spirit that have characterized the Midwest. Malcolm Moos, President, the University of Minnesota"

Large or small, America's cities have had a difficult time generating admiration, respect, or understanding. They have served the nation as sources of commerce, finance, and the arts. They have taken millions of new Americans from their point of entry and helped newcomers elevate themselves economically into the American mainstream. In recent years, the greatest of cities have become command centers of a new global economy. However, the headlines from urban America proclaim riot, decline, and despair. This book is different, it is about solutions: the breakthroughs-the indicators that can...