Nebraska’s 150th anniversary of statehood was celebrated two years ago in a fascinating coffee table book written by the Omaha World-Herald’s David Hendee, a board member of the Museum of Danish America.

The book tells the story of how a grassland in the middle of the continent came to be the 37th state in the Union in 1867. “It is the Nebraska we know and love,’’ wrote reviewer Michael J. Smith, retired director and chief executive officer of the Nebraska State Historical Society. “Turn each page and find something you knew — and probably more than one thing you did not know. …Look into who we have been and who we are today. Start with this book.” Despite its reputation, Nebraska is not flat. Detour off Interstate 80 and the state unfolds in rolling hills cut with canyons and rocky escarpments. It’s America’s outback.

This is neither a history book, nor a travel guide. Rather, it is a collection of some of monumental moments and incidental episodes of the statesmen and scoundrels who built the state. Historic and contemporary photographs capture both the familiar and unfamiliar. The first two printings sold out. This third-printing edition is signed by the author.