James Sterling Ayars

50302

The title is a little misleading, as the bulk of this book is really a history of Illinois to 1860--much of the history included is, at best, tangentially related to the Illinois River. Of the 15 chapters, I would say that only the first and the last four are really *about* the Illinois River. There's some lovely writing, especially in chapters 12 and 13, which gives one a sense of what this book might have been, but overall I was disappointed.