I Was a Revolutionary

The eight stories in Milward’s second collection (after The Agriculture Hall of Fame) don’t just use history as a jumping-off point, they also raise questions about the nature of recorded history itself. Each one feels as complete and complex as a novel. Even better, each story is distinct, but benefits from its nearness to the others. The opening story, “The Burning of Lawrence,” examines Quantrill’s Raiders from conventional and meta perspectives, referencing a 1920s song about Quantrill, a 1912 photograph, and the 1999 Ang Lee film Ride with the Devil. The second story, “O Death,” picks up after the Civil War, with a set of characters facing an uncertain future. The time line moves forward into the 1920s (“The Americanist”) and the 1950s (“Hard Feelings”). The centerpiece of the book is “A Defense of History,” which follows the research of a historian called the Assistant, who gathers information about the Populists, a Kansas political party from a century ago, and is confronted with ethical questions when he comes across conflicting original sources. The title story, which closes the book, is also set in the world of academia and hinges on a professor of Kansas history stirring outrage after landing his new post. This collection is sharp, shrewd, and consistently thought provoking. (Aug.)