Ken Robison History
Latest Title:
Cold War Montana: From Stolen Secrets to the Ace in the Hole:
Building on the vital role that Great Falls played during World War II, our state became home to some of the most powerful nuclear missile systems in the world, Montana played an indispensable role in the war against Communism. Utilizing the Lend Lease Pipeline, Soviet spies ferried stolen nuclear and industrial secrets, loaded in diplomatic pouches, from Great Falls to the Soviet Union. Montana native and Cold Warrior, Captain Ken Robison, weaves stories of his near thirty years naval service with that of other Montanans who served around the world in the struggle to contain and defeat Communism. This dramatic story extends from the proxy wars in Korea and Vietnam to the impact the Cold War had at home in Montana throughout the near half century struggle against international Communism.
You'll be with President John F. Kennedy as he visits the home of Senator Mike Mansfield in Great Falls before delivering a dramatic Cold War speech; Army nurse Lieutenant Diane Carlson, serving as "an angel of mercy" in the Central Highlands in Vietnam; young Montana smokejumper Jerry "Hog" Daniels advising General Vang Pao in his desperate fight in Laos against Communism; Missoula-native, Sonny Llewelyn as he and his crew are shot down by Chinese Communist fighters and held captive in Peking; crack Soviet aviator, Victor Belenko, as he defects with his super-secret Foxbat fighter aircraft, and gives pilot-to-pilot tips to the Montana Air National Guard; and Colonel Fred Cherry, after serving at Malmstrom Air Force Base, becoming the senior Black Prisoner of War in Hanoi, enduring torture for refusing to make racial problems in the U.S. a propaganda issue. These are among the many tales of Montanans who made their mark on this titanic struggle.
Cold War Montana tells the history of the Cold War through the voices of Montanans, both at home and abroad
Previous Titles List:
Robison, Ken. Fort Benton. Charleston: Arcadia, 2009.
Robison, Ken. Cascade County and Great Falls. Charleston: Arcadia, 2011.
Thomson, Janet D. et al, Ed. Early Settlers of Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana, 1884-1920. Vols. 1-2. Createspace, 2012. [Ken Robison wrote the History of Great Falls and the bios of more than 1,100 Black residents.]
Healy, John J. Life and Death on the Upper Missouri: The Frontier Sketches of Johnny Healy. Edited by Ken Robison. Charleston: Ken Robison, 2013.
Robison, Ken. Montana Territory and the Civil War: A Frontier Forged on the Battlefield. Charleston: The History Press, 2013.
Robison, Ken. Confederates in Montana Territory: In the Shadow of Price’s Army. Charleston: The History Press, 2014.
Swarthout, Robert, Ed. Montana A Cultural Medley, Stories of Our Ethnic Diversity. Ken Robison Chapter: “Breaking Racial Barriers: ‘Everyone’s Welcome’ at the Ozark Club—Great Falls, Montana’s African American Nightclub” by Ken Robison. Far Country Press, 2015.
McDermott, Paul D., Ed. The Mullan Road: Carving a Passage through the Frontier Northwest, 1859 to 1862. Ken Robison Chapter: “Completing the Mullan Road from Mullan Pass to Fort Benton: A Harbinger of Change.” By Ken Robison. Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing, 2015. Pgs. 131-151, 2015.
Kohl, Martha, ed. Beyond Schoolmarms and Madams: Montana Women’s Stories. Ken Robison Chapter “Martha Edgerton Rolfe Plassmann.: Helena: Montana Historical Society Press, 2016.
Robison, Ken. Yankees & Rebels on the Upper Missouri: Steamboats, Gold and Peace. Charleston: The History Press, 2016.
Robison, Ken. World War I Montana: The Treasure State Prepares
Charleston: The History Press, 2018.
Glasrud, Bruce A. and Cary D. Wintz, Eds. Black Americans and the Civil Rights Movement in the West. Ken Robison Chapter: “Chapter 5: The Mountain States (Montana/Wyoming): Breaking Racial Barriers.” Norman: University of Oklahoma Press: February 2019.
Robison, Ken. Montanans in the Great War: Open Warfare Over There
Charleston: The History Press, 2019.
Robison, Ken. Historic Tales of Whoop-Up Country: On the Trail from Montana's Fort Benton to Canada's Fort Macleod. Charleston: The History Press, September 2020.