A really fun read! John Thomas came to the Museum of Idaho to speak about his book (coinciding with the National Guitar Museum's stop in Idaho Falls (through November 30th! Don't miss it; it's great! /plug) ) Also proves that there's always mysteries to solve in history- an enigmatic photograph with no caption, and during a time when official company history says nothing but war production happened in the factory? Shipping ledgers that no one will acknowledge until a company insider stumbles across them in a storage closet? Another valuable aspect is the oral histories of the women (and one man) that Thomas interviewed.

My only quibble is some of the oral histories are repeated between the chapter describing The Good War and the sections where each Kalamazoo Gal or Guy is interviewed- very minor, but it pulled me out of the narrative (other people who read at a slower pace may appreciate the callbacks).

I don't have the companion CD, but I do plan on getting it at some point- those instruments really sing! I also wish more of the images from his Vintage Steel gallery were included- the project of X-raying the "Banner" Gibsons extended into X-raying all sorts of vintage guitars, resulting in some really lovely images that would make excellent prints (also part of the National Guitar Museum exhibit. GO SEEEEEEE IT). ( )