John Bartlow Martin (1915–1988) was a journalist and freelance writer who grew up in Indianapolis and graduated from DePauw University. He worked for the Associated Press, was a reporter for the Indianapolis Times, and was the author of numerous articles, stories, and books.James H. Madison is the Thomas and Kathryn Miller Professor of History Emeritus, Indiana University Bloomington. His books include Hoosiers: A New History (IUP, 2014); Eli Lilly: A Life, 1885-1977; Slinging Doughnuts for the Boys: An American Woman in World War II (IUP, 2007); and A Lynching in the Heartland: Race and Memory in America. Madison serves on the boards of Indiana Humanities and the Indiana Historical Society and is a member of the Indiana Bicentennial Commission. Ray E. Boomhower is author of John Bartlow Martin: A Voice for the Underdog (IUP, 2015); The People's Choice: Congressman Jim Jontz of Indiana; and Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Indiana Primary (IUP, 2008). He is Senior Editor of Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, the quarterly magazine of the Indiana Historical Society.

"Classic 1947 critique that is frank by today's standards and scandalous by 1947's"—Indianapolis Star"A lot of things started in Indiana—the automotive industry for one—and Indiana has produced a great many ideas, many wrongheaded and some downright wicked. Viewed one way, this book is a study of Indiana ideas, for threads run through it—the quest for the better life, bigotry, provincial protest. Viewed another, it is a study of an idea itself, the Hoosier, or Indiana, idea. By the 'Indiana idea' I mean the idea of Indiana and the Hoosiers that is held by people elsewhere. It is a conception of Indiana as a pleasant, rather rural place inhabited by people who are confident, prosperous, neighborly, easygoing, tolerant, shrewd."—from the Preface

• Introduction by James H. MadisonPrefacePart One: Crossroads, U.S.A.Chapter 1 State FairPart Two: BeginningsChapter 2 By Flatboat and WagonChapter 3 Wilderness YearsChapter 4 enator Hannegan, Son of the WestPart Three: GrowthChapter 5 In Civil WarChapter 6 Revolt on the FarmChapter 7 The Gas BoomPart Four: The Golden AgeChapter 8 The Best Years, the Best PlaceChapter 9 James Whitcomb Riley and CompanyChapter 10 Leaders for the New AgePart Five: Voices of ProtestChapter 11 Eugene V. DebsChapter 12 William and Powers HapgoodPart Six: Four Gentlemen from IndianaChapter 13 Prologue: The 1920sChapter 14 D. C. Stephenson, KlansmanChapter 15 Court Asher, IsolationistChapter 16 Ned Gorrell, Country EditorChapter 17 Ralph F. Gates, Grass-Roots GovernorPart Seven: The Conditions that PrevailChapter 18 Troubled Years: The 1930s and 1940sChapter 19 Straws in the Hoosier WindAfterword by Ray E. BoomhowerAcknowledgmentsBibliographyIndex