Book excerpt: J. William T. Youngs headed the research staff who interviewed over 200 citizens and reviewed thousands of pages of records, in order to write this definitive history of Spokane, its people, and the first ever Environmental World's Fair to be ratified by the Bureau of International Expositions in Paris. This comprehensive history of a midsize western American city chronicles the coming of white settlers and their interchanges with the Indians of the region; the harnessing and exploitation of the Spokane River and its beautiful falls for energy to run mills and light streets, stores, and homes; and the impact of the railroads. At the heart of this meticulously researched account is the growth and decay of Spokane's inner city by the falls, as its economy ebbed and flowed, and the reclamation of the falls through the resounding success of Spokane's World Fair-Expo '74.