Although much of Kansas law reflects US law, the state court's arbitrary powers over labor-management conflicts, yellow dog contracts, civil rights, gender issues, and domestic relations set precedents that reverberated around the country. This work presents the history of a state through the use of its Supreme Court decisions as evidence.

R. Alton Lee is a professor emeritus of American history at the University of South Dakota. He is the author of several books, including Farmers vs. Wage Earners: Organized Labor in Kansas, 1860–1960 (Nebraska, 2009) and The Bizarre Careers of John R. Brinkley.