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An important aspect of the author's study is the attention given to changing directions in federal Indian policy. If the BIA adhered to a "forced assimilation" policy for a half century, it changed its path in the early 1930s. The change was the result of the public outcry made by reformers such as John Collier, no stranger in the history of Indian policy. It was also the result of the well-known Meriam Report of 1928 which detailed the ills of the boarding school system, a list that included over crowded conditions, unqualified teachers, health problems, rundown buildings, and the harsh punishment of students. Although the report was highly critical of BIA education, it did not recommend the elimination of the system. Instead, in the early 1930s, the Indian Bureau eliminated its "forced assimilation" policy, a directive made in Washington, D.C., and not in Phoenix by some school superintendent. The Phoenix Indian School is a stately detailed history of a "typical" large off-reservation boarding school. It is also a special case study of federal Indian policy, an area in which the author excels. Because of the quality of work, it is difficult to find fault with this original study based largely on unpublished primary sources. There are, however, two minor things that could be addressed. First, early twentieth-century Indian school students participated in annual essay contests ("Why the Indian student should receive as good an education as any other student in America") sponsored by the Society of American Indians, the Pan-Indian organization founded in 1911. Did the Phoenix students participate? Second, the author points out that the "forced" policy ended in the early 1930s and was largely replaced by "cultural pluralism." However, he does not stress that a mild form of assimilation continued to exist after the 1930s. Perhaps a second volume might be written, carrying the chro nology from the 1930s to the present. Nonetheless, Trennert produces a fine work about a typical and "representative" school which did not enjoy the same glamour as Carlisle or Hampton.

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Access to some federal government records has become more difficult since the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001. Some records previously opened have been reclassified. Records related to the infrastructure of cities, construction plans of government buildings, development of military weapons, biological warfare subjects, and biographical information on U. S. citizens were the first categories to be tightened. Historians should keep a watchful eye on these developments. Balancing issues of national security with the public's right to government information is a crucial debate in a democracy that depends on information to make proper judgments about the workings of government.

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