The nominal subject of this book—Wyoming’s approach to water law as it developed from the territorial days and on into modern times—may seem very narrowly focused. But MacKinnon explains why is has been so important throughout the state’s history. I would probably not have chosen to read this book but for a friend appearing on my doorstep to present me with a copy. I am glad to have had the opportunity. It casts a new light on much of the state’s history, showing how the arid climate and uncertain water supplies, and the ways that people struggled to cope with them, were important factors in many events that I remember learning about when growing up in central Wyoming.

I am not well versed in law, much less in water law, and so am not qualified to judge the scholarship in this book, but to my layman’s mind, it seems very thoroughly researched, and presents a dry topic in an engaging manner. And I've noticed that in the days since finishing it, I am seeing items in the news about the ongoing mega-drought in the western U.S. in an entirely different light. ( )