PINE LAKE.

By William F. Stark '50. Sheboygan (Wise.): Zimmermann Press, 1971.235 pp. With 30 illustrations and 8 maps.$12.95.

It is evident from these pages that Pine Lake (in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, between Milwaukee and Oconomowoc) is a spot that engenders deep contentment and strong loyalities. To do justice to its history Bill Stark has researched with extraordinary thoroughness, as can be seen from his quotations and footnotes as well as from the numerous illustrations and maps. As the author remarks in his preface, "Unless one has attempted to write a local history, he probably has little idea of the vast sources of information which must be examined." True enough; and his Pine Lake is a useful and entertaining, as well as attractively printed, contribution to the genre.

Pine Lake became a rich man's community. Writing its history could therefore have provided more of an opportunity for a sociological approach than the author has used. To appeal to a more general public, he might have analysed his material to attempt to discover how much of a microcosm of American history (or how much of a deviant) Pine Lake is. As is true of all local history, his book is of restricted interest because of the limited area of its subject matter. Nevertheless local history is an essential part of historiography, and PineLake is a thorough and reliable exemplification of the kind.

Mr. Wilson is the Daniel Webster Professorand Professor of Biography and of Government, Emeritus.