Book excerpt: History is more than national personalities, wars, and horrible catastrophes; it is stories told by people who have lived ordinary lives. In Where Did All the Cowboys Go?, author Joe Millard gives a first-person account of what life was like growing up in rural Iowa in the 1940s. From the perspective of young Gene Millard, this memoir reveals the experiences of a one-room school education where pupils studied geography from a globe, read the childrens classics, learned sportsmanship on the playground, and bought war bonds. It also recounts Genes non-classroom life experiences in Farlin, Iowa, where he learned to play pool at the village gossip center next to the blacksmith shop, loathe boxing in the IOOF hall, and understand friendship at a box social. Genes experiences mirror those of the thousands of children who grew up on farms in the Midwest and Great Plains in the 1940s. The recollection of these memories will lead others to remember the nostalgia of the days of Saturday cowboy movies, participating in Christmas school plays, fishing in creeks, and enjoying community events. It provides a personal perspective of the times and fills a void in the history books.