Iowa is considered a backward farm state full of bumpkins who wear Carhartt jackets and do little besides give the world corn. But what if that understanding is wrong? What if Iowa has done more to influence the modern world than any other population group?

Turns out it has.

In this new book by #1 best-selling author Michael Rank — himself a native Iowan — he discovers how this underdog state

— Saved billions of people from starvation in the 20th century

— Created Silicon Valley in the 1960s and inspired the startup culture of egalitarianism and hoodies

— Decides who will win the presidential election every four years

— Was the multicultural center of America and hosted more utopian communes and transcendental meditation centers than any other place in the United States

— Created the General American English accent spoken by all actors and broadcasters. People the world over are learning to speak like an Iowan, even if they don't know it

This book tells the story of Iowa's outsized influence on global events, but it is more importantly about how an underdog can defy the odds and truly make a lasting impact on the world.