The eleven essays included in this volume offer the most authoritative account yet published of the distinctively urban history of Springfield, Missouri—the largest city in the Ozarks. Essays on early history include “Quinine and Courage: The Battle of Springfield, January 8, 1863,” by William Garrett Piston and John C. Rutherford. Post-Civil War histories include “Retail Rivals: Springfield’s Commercial Street versus the Public Square, 1870-1945,” by Angela Wingo Miller, and “Memories of Walter Majors: Searching for African American History in Springfield,” by Richard L. Schur. Post-World War II histories include “From Zenith to Nadir: The Story of Springfield’s Largest Manufacturing Plant,” by Tim Knapp, and “The Demise of O’Reilly Hospital and the Beginning of Evangel College, 1946-1955,” by Lawrence J. Nelson. The volume concludes with Holly A. Baggett’s “Creation of a Community: A History of Gay and Lesbian Springfield, 1945-2010.