"The territories were always on the fringe of American society until World War II, when they became the front lines of defense. Even so, it took 13 years of lobbying against anti-communist hysteria and cultural blindness to admit the last two states to the union. History professor Whitehead thoroughly covers the political battle at each awkward step."—Honolulu Star-Bulletin
"John S. Whitehead has written a monumental history that traces the separate but interconnected paths that Alaska and Hawai'i took to achieve statehood in 1958 and 1959."—Alaska History
"John Whitehead's Completing the Union weaves together the hitories of the 20th century statehood movements in Hawai'i and alaska, connecting them to each other and to the outside world. . . Completing the Union is a useful first encounter with those people and with the topic in genereal."—The Hawaiian Journal of History
"In his well written book Completting the Union, retired University of Alaska history professor John S. Whitehead makes a substantial contribution to the understanding the statehood process."—History: Reviews of New Books