This is an informative and entertaining history of 'The Duke City'. Under the flags of Spain, Mexico, the United States, and for a brief period, the Confederate States, Albuquerque grew from a small farm and ranch village in the northern reaches of New Spain to the thirty-fifth largest city in the United States. Howard Bryan devotes special attention to some of the colourful characters who have populated the city's history, and also includes business and civic leaders who helped shape the city's growth and character. Humorous episodes and anecdotes, as related in early newspapers, are scattered throughout the text to balance some of the dramatic and often violent events that occurred in Albuquerque over the years.