Ozarks in Missouri History: Discoveries in an American Region gathers fifteen essays, many of them pioneering efforts in the field, that originally appeared in the Missouri Historical Review, the journal of the State Historical Society.

Interest in scholarly study of the Ozarks has increased markedly in recent years, and this collection of old and new essays will be welcomed by the growing number of readers seeking work on the history, culture, and geography of the region. In his introduction, editor Lynn Morrow gives the reader background on the interest in and the study of the Ozarks. Essays in the collection explore a diverse list of topics, among them the fur trade, slavery, the Civil War and image-making, and the New Deal and mining; agriculture and constant change; the chaotic modernisation brought by railroads, rivalries, scandal, and labor unions in Springfield; the sometimes-conflicting influences exerted by St. Louis and Kansas City, and the struggle by federal, state, and local governments to define conservation and the future of Current River.

Historians and Ozarks enthusiasts alike will find these micro-studies an enjoyable read.