The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 53, July 1949 - April, 1950 Page: 339

Book Reviews

Here the Wichita philosopher lists his "dislikes," his "aversions,"
his "hates," his "phobias," and his "super-phobias." He dislikes
yo-yos, zippers, and plate lunches; he has an aversion to painted
finger nails, English sparrows, and lattice-work pie; he hates
special weeks, gum-chewing barbers, and motorcycles; he has a
phobia for detours, cold storage chicken, and people who are
cheerful before 9:30 o'clock in the morning; and among his
super-phobias are paper towels, carrying charges, and spinach.
J. HORACE BASS
Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas
A History of Louisiana. By Garnie William McGinty. New York
(The Exposition Press), 1949. Pp. 318. $3.50.
Beginning with the early Spanish explorers of the Gulf Coast
area the volume under review carries the story of Louisiana to
the policies of Governor Earl K. Long. Twelve of the twenty-seven
chapters of the book are devoted to the history of the French and
Spanish regimes in Louisiana. The author attempts to "give the
essential facts" in the story of Louisiana's one hundred and thirty-
seven years as a state in less than two hundred pages. Many read-
ers will be disappointed to find that Professor McGinty has chosen
to devote less than one-fifth of the work to twentieth-century
Louisiana. The volume adds little or nothing to the subject and
omits much that is important.
It is difficult to understand the author's purpose in the selection
of topics to be emphasized. It is the reviewer's opinion that the
work gives too much attention to well-known episodes and indi-
viduals in general American history and too little to distinctly
Louisiana matters and personnel. De Soto, La Salle, Lewis and
Clark, and Aaron Burr are given prominent mention. Burr is
honored with three pages; three governors of this century, Hall,
Pleasant, and Parker (1912-1924), are dismissed with a total of
less than two pages. Zebulon Pike's explorations in present Min-
nesota and Colorado are given space; Henry M. Shreve's work in
removing the famous Red River raft, thus contributing greatly
to the development of North Louisiana, is not mentioned. In
fact, the reviewer was amazed at the author's failure to include
certain topics. Nothing is said about a Louisiana workmen's com-

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