We're looking for the great books of Arizona history
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Arizona is the youngest state in the lower 48, but we still have a rich history.
State of play: We want to compile the greatest Arizona history books.
- And we want to know your favorites so we can make our list as comprehensive as possible.
- Is there an event or person from Arizona history that isn't already the subject of a book? Let us know what you want to read about.
My thought bubble: As an Arizona native, and both an author and lifelong student of history, I've got some thoughts on some books that should be on the list.
- Here are a few of my favorites. (The list is by no means definitive):
- There's no shortage of books about Tombstone and the shootout at the O.K. Corral, but Jeff Guinn's 2012 account is as good as it gets.
"High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Term and Trials of Former Governor Evan Mecham"
- If you think Arizona politics are wild now, then see what it was like in the 1980s with Ronald Watkins' history of Evan Mecham's short but tumultuous governorship.
"Driving While Brown: Sheriff Joe Arpaio versus the Latino Resistance"
- It's still in the recent past, but former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's controversial undocumented immigration policies belong to history thanks to Terry Greene Sterling and Jude Joffe-Block's 2021 book.
- It's not so easy to find a copy of this out-of-print book these days, but this chronicle of the crusading journalists who descended on Arizona after Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles' assassination is an eye-opening account of the state's seamier side.
- Evan Thomas' definitive 2019 biography of Sandra Day O'Connor isn't an Arizona history book as much as it's a book about a historically important woman from Arizona. But it's a fantastic read, and the first hundred pages or so include a lot of great details about the Arizona of O'Connor's earlier years.
Like any good bookworm, I've got more unread books than I know what to do with. The next one on my reading list is "I'll Forget It When I Die!", a history of the infamous kidnapping and deportation of 1,200 striking miners from Bisbee in 1917.