First published in 1954, Robert H. Lowie's Indians of the Plains surveys in a lucid and concise fashion the history and culture of the Indian tribes between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. The author visited various tribes from 1906 to 1931, observing them carefully, participating in their lifeways, studying their languages, and listening to their legends and tales. After a half century of study, Lowie wrote this book, praised by anthropologists as the synthesis of a lifetime's work.

A preface by Raymond J. DeMallie situates the book in the history of American anthropology and describes information and changes in interpretation that have emerged since Indians of the Plains first appeared.

"Lowie's Indians of the Plains remains unsurpassed as a brief, detailed, and suggestive overview of the subject. It still serves as an excellent introduction to that vast body of information collected or assembled by anthropologists for understanding past cultures of Plains Indian peoples."?Raymond J. DeMallie