Texas Books

It was hard to put this book down once I started it. Although the women portrayed faced a living hell all around them, the authors elicit the courage and determination each women had to continue the daily existence in the camps. And that is what is so powerful; the daily horrors which become the backdrop for extermination are also part of the reason that each was able to define for herself a path through death.

This book is novel in its approach and subject matter. Women in the Holocaust, and their triumphs, courage, and resourcefullness has been ignored before now. The stories are personal and engaging. I would put it in the top-ten must reads of Holocaust literature.

This book was a difficult endeavor, as one never wants to face the potential raw ugliness of mankind. However, the voices of these women are invaluable in helping the world to remember a time which must never be forgotten.

As a young woman (34 years old) and a mother of three (which qualifies me as a caregiver, I guess), my heart went out to these brave women, struggling to impart some small measure of kindness or at least relief of suffering to their fellow prisoners. Women and children are seemingly the most vulnerable when society engages in chaos, but the women caregivers chronicled in this book were apparently among the most intrepid of all. I believe they gathered strength from the acts of focusing on giving aid to others in the most desperate of circumstances. Anyone who is interested in what the human spirit can endure, and indeed, overcome, should read this book.

Kudos to Dr. Diane Plotkin for her thorough research into the lives of the women featured in this book. Her attention to detail helps transport us to the various camps where we experience dehumanization and deprivation. Through it all, however, it is interesting to see the various ways these women nurtured and tried to protect one another. This is a "must-read" book because it clearly illustrates the general differences in the ways men and women coped with, and adapted to, life in the concentration camps.

The best book I've seen on the subject!

As an anthropologist who teaches classes on Mexico, I use this book often. The "day of the dead" in Mexico exemplifies, for me, the difference between the U.S. culture and that of Mexico. Just as other cultures might find our U.S. Halloween celebrations strangely at odds with normally conservative Judeo-Christian religious observance, this book illustrates clearly the almost unfathomable blending of pre-Columbian cults of death and sacrifice with Spanish-Catholic traditions. Starting with its origins in Mexico's ancient civilizations, the book discusses and illustrates this observance through modern times, and takes the reader vicariously to the areas of Mexico in which it is most enthusiastically observed. Sit down with a cup of chocolate' and some "pan de los muertos" (bread of the dead), and enjoy a book whose topic you might have thought too morbid for your taste, but which you will probably end up finding much more compelling than repulsive. Unfortunately for me (but better for the publishing company!), I am about to order my 3rd copy of "Skeleton at the Feast"--apparently the students to whom I loan it find it too interesting to return!

I bought this book several years ago at the Museum of Mankind, in London. It was the book for the exhibition, which featured incredible paper sculptures of skeletons and demons.
I read every word of the book, and enjoyed the culture, history, and personal stories of these Mexican artists.
Buy it!

As an anthropologist who teaches classes on Mexico, I use this book often. The "day of the dead" in Mexico exemplifies, for me, the difference between the U.S. culture and that of Mexico. Just as other cultures might find our U.S. Halloween celebrations strangely at odds with normally conservative Judeo-Christian religious observance, this book illustrates clearly the almost unfathomable blending of pre-Columbian cults of death and sacrifice with Spanish-Catholic traditions. Starting with its origins in Mexico's ancient civilizations, the book discusses and illustrates this observance through modern times, and takes the reader vicariously to the areas of Mexico in which it is most enthusiastically observed. Sit down with a cup of chocolate' and some "pan de los muertos" (bread of the dead), and enjoy a book whose topic you might have thought too morbid for your taste, but which you will probably end up finding much more compelling than repulsive. Unfortunately for me (but better for the publishing company!), I am about to order my 3rd copy of "Skeleton at the Feast"--apparently the students to whom I loan it find it too interesting to return!

While every American and Mexican schoolchild knows the story of the Alamo, few "Norteamericanos" know the story of the massacre that followed it, that of killing 250 unarmed Texan prisoners at Goliad.

Author Jay Stout's latest book "Slaughter at Goliad" brings this blot on the Mexican military into the harsh light of day. Exceptionally well-written, he brings his experience as a Marine combat aviator into the battle as he explains the fight in terms that every reader can understand.
Superficially, this is a simple story; after a one-sided battle won by the Mexican Army over a bunch of rag-tag Texan-American volunteers, some 250 prisoners were marched to Goliad. After 200 more prisoners were brought to the compound, where they were all massacred on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836. It was one of the single largest losses of life in the history of the young United States, and the repercussions affected Texas, America, and Mexico virtually immediately.

Of special importantance to the battle and to the book is Stout's examination of the personalities and politics involved. Stout portrays James Walker Fannin, the commander of the doomed unit, as an ineffective leader who misjudged his adversary, Mexico's infamous General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. As author Stout explains, rather than courage, it was Fannin's incompetence as a battlefield commander that put his men into a position where they had to either surrender or be killed - and it was equally Santa Anna's ego and short-sightedness that led him to execute Fannin and his troops.

Fully understanding Clausewitz's dictum that `war is merely politics by another means', Stout goes on to explain how this massacre was integral into galvanizing American public opinion in favor of a war against Mexico.
Not to be forgotten is Stout's description of the boots-on-the-ground stories of Fannin's men. They came to Texas for various reasons, and with equally various and vague backgrounds, yet were integral to the Texan drive for independence. "Manifest destiny" started here, with men like those under Fannin's command, and Stout does an excellent job documenting it.

Neither pro-nor-con Mexico or America, Jay Stout has written an interesting and sophisticated battle history of a long-forgotten incident that helped Texas win their war of independence. This is well worth reading for both the casual and educational reader of both military and North American history. ! Ole !

A further historical example of the degredation and outright barbarity of Mexicans if given the chance against Americans.

In "Slaughter at Goliad", Jay Stout recounts the horrific tale of the single largest loss of American warriors until the American Civil War. Goliad, Texas is located only 80 miles from the most famous site of the Texas Revolution, the Alamo. Why is it that many of us have never heard of this place? By the conclusion of the book, Stout posits his answer to this question.

Stout provides the reader with an abbreviated course on Mexican history, including the rise of the militaristic despot, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. While not directly related to this battle, Santa Anna definitely influenced the massacre. His "Tornel Decree" declared anyone who took up arms against Mexico to be a pirate. Under Mexican law at the time, this meant death for any volunteer who had taken up arms. After the battle the commanding Mexican officer, General Jose Urrea, used this document and a letter from Santa Anna to the officer responsible for the slaughter to justify the murderous actions of his men.

After providing the strategic context of the Mexico-Texas relationship in 1836, Stout described the material incentives offered to bands of volunteers, such as the New Orleans Greys and the Alabama Red Rovers who came to the Texas frontier. With the motivations of both sides clearly described, Stout delivers a factual accounting of the final days of these 400 volunteers, including James Walker Fannin's aborted attempt to send a relief column to the Alamo, which was under siege only weeks before these men met their murderous end. Using personal diaries from both belligerents as source material, Stout was able to recreate a vivid image of the battle for the reader.

After 120 men held off a Mexican army during the battle of Matamoros a few days earlier, the 270-person contingent held off a second Mexican army at the Battle of Coleto creek. At the end of first day of battle, scores of Mexicans lay dead or wounded, at an American cost of only 9 dead and a few dozen wounded. General Urrea understood the Americans would have continued to inflict grievous harm on his army, so he accepted the conditional surrender terms of the Americans. With these honorable surrender terms in mind, the American prisoners marched back to Goliad under the impression they were to be paroled to return to the United States. At this point, General Urrea's least capable commander received a letter from Santa Anna, setting into motion events that would forever change Texas history.

At the Alamo, 182 Americans gave their lives in pursuit of an independent Texas; almost 400 volunteers paid that same price at Goliad. At the Battle of San Jacinto, less than a month later, the Texan volunteers rallied to the battle cry of "Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!" At this battle, General Sam Houston finally defeated Santa Anna, leading to the birth of the Republic of Texas. As time went by, the battle cry was halved to only "Remember the Alamo!" Stout's analysis offers very compelling arguments as to why this event was selectively forgotten from American history.

Stout brings to life this horrific event, remembering the brave men who fought and died for Texan Independence. He does these men a great justice by keeping their stories alive. Stout certainly knows how to tell a tale - I couldn't put the book down after I started it. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

The author has done American Historians a notable service in writing the definitive work on this usually overlooked episode in American history. The research is thorough, and his writing is excellent.

The center of his story is the massacre of approximately 400 American volunteers from mostly Southern states who went to Texas to assist the Anglo settlers there in winning independence from Mexico. To put this inexcusable event into context, author Stout briefly covers Mexico's history concentrating on the period from Mexico's independence from Spain in 1821 until the Santa Anna dictatorship. Unfortunately, the insurmountable problems faced by people raised in an authoritarian social structure when attempting to form a democracy without any concept of its workings is ignored. On the American side Stout describes the Americans using De Tocqueville's depiction as "freewheeling, free traveling, and hardly constrained by circumstances, class, or borders."

The Spanish and later Mexicans were simply unable to colonize Texas and what later became the American Southwest due to the harshness of the land and the indigenous Indians. Catholicism, being based on authority emanating from an emperor/priest, failed miserably in obtaining converts from non-hierarchial Indian societies, and Spanish and Mexican colonists were unable to conquer the Apaches and Comanches sufficiently to achieve a modicum of security. In this vacuum, Americans settlers began to arrive in large numbers, often in agreement with the Mexican government (like Austin's colony), and by 1836 the population of Texas stood at less than 4,000 Mexicans, and 40,000 Americans including their 4-5,000 slaves. Like it or not, the Americans were probably the world's most deadly predators at the time, and they took over the "Indian problem" and solved it. And as always, population was power, and the immigrant Americans had seized it from a hopelessly corrupt Mexican government.

Author Stout rather accurately describes the main player in the Goliad drama, James Fannin, as incompetent and self-important along with many of the other empresarios who came to Texas to win their fortunes. The same cannot be said for the young volunteers from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and other states who would pay for their youthful wanderlust with their lives.

Cutting to the quick, Fannin commanded about 250 men at Goliad and was faced by the Mexican General Urrea with a force of approximately 1,000 men including 300 heavy cavalry outfitted like French cuirassiers. Fannin's total army of almost 500 men was spread out in multiple detachments, and the southerly ones under Grant and Johnson were rapidly destroyed by Urrea. He sent a third of his army to Refugio under King and Ward, and this detachment was overrun and eventually captured. Fannin dithered, decided not to go to the Alamo, and after a senseless skirmish, decided to leave Goliad to join Houston. Unfortunately he took with him nine cannon and his rate of march was slowed to two miles per hour. It did not take Urrea long to catch Fannin in the open and surround him. After an afternoon of fighting in which the Americans acquitted themselves honorably and a miserable night, Fannin surrendered his command believing he and his men would be spared. Certainly the foreign officers in Urrea's army thought they would be spared and Urrea made statements to that effect, but the surrender document left the terms up to the Mexican Government -- in essence to Santa Anna.

The Mexican Government, at Santa Anna's bidding, had enacted the Decree of Tornel, stating essentially that all foreign invaders on Mexican soil were to be treated as pirates (e.g. subject to execution.) When Urrea contacted Santa Anna as to the disposition of the prisoners, Santa Anna's reply was to execute Fannin and his men.

The following day, Fannin's survivors of the Battle of Coleto and the prisoners from the other detachments comprising about 400 men were shot down or otherwise dispatched in four groups including the officers who were killed separately. The only men spared were those useful to the Mexican Army, namely doctors, nurses and some carpenters. Notably, there was no hesitation on the part of the Mexican soldiers to murder the prisoners. Only a very few prisoners escaped by feigning death or running away when the slaughter began.

The author presents both sides in a fair and impartial manner, carefully documenting Fannin's fecklessness and Santa Anna's mendacity. The cries of "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad" propelled Houston's force to victory at San Jacinto, but revisionists have carefully deleted the Goliad cry as not wanting to draw attention to Fannin's incompetence and Mexican brutality. This book brings the story home in an scholarly fashion to the benefit of all.

This book is remarkable. It is very apparent that Mr. Morrison did his research well. A must read for any history buff.

In his introduction the author tells us "this book examines the relationship between the territorial issue in the origins of the American Civil War. This story is familiar; this telling has not.... The debate between Democrats and Whigs over Texas in 1844 were based on economics and divided the parties along national lines. By 1860, the struggle over westward expansion and settlement issued in sectional arguments and a fragmented political system. This transformation is the story here and told.[p. 4]"

The expansionists quickly realized that the problem with moving the boundaries of this country westward was going to be slavery. And not so much slavery itself, but demagoguery, used by radicals on both sides to inadvertantly hinder the progress of the westward movement. The author quotes the extreme expansionist Thomas B. Stevenson, "it is not, I fear, either the actual status of the actual settlement of the slavery question that the antagonistic agitators really wish to effect. It is the use they can make of it as it exists."[p.1] The acquisition of Texas and the subsequent territory obtained through the Mexican War became the hobbyhorse of the extremists during the 1840s. The 1850s opened a decade of extreme agitation on both sides of the question of opening territory or closing it forever to the peculiarinstitution. "Republicans [the North] used slavery to define broadly remaining and limits of freedom not only within the North's free labor economy but, more important, within the nation's republican political state."[p. 167] In the South the European class system was extolled by some of the most radical proslavery elements. A major portion of the expansionist program was the example to be set by a union of the nation reaching from sea to sea. It is because the South felt so strongly toward the Union that states rights activists were compelled to remind their southern cohorts, "the Federal Union is not a god -- it is a human institution. So long as it answers the hands of its creation, it should be and will be carefully preserved. When it fails those ends, it should be discarded."[p. 184]

In 1856 James Buchanan, the second worst president this country has endured, entered the fray. Stephen A. Douglas, the famous Chicago politician of the Lincoln Douglas debates, decried the sectionalism of the Republicans. He maintained that the founding fathers, recognizing the diversity of economics and social institutions of the several states, and established a union of the fundamental right that every state could do as he pleased without his neighbors interfering. The Compromise of 1850, the Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act all reaffirmed the right of the state to settle its own local problems and decide what is best for its free existence. The Democratic Party attempted as far as possible to allow this operation. And Douglas, one of the major proponents of expansionism, defeated his own goal by not recognizing the importance of the slavery issue to the westward movement. Most people wanted a union as extended as possible, but half of them, not especially for humanitarian purposes but rather economic conditions, were dead set against the expansion of slavery into these areas, these new territories to be carved for the Empire.

The author goes on to state, "because secession had transformed the sectional conflict over the territories into an ominous controversy over the preservation of the Union, Republicans refuse to sustain the latter by conceding their principles on the former. It is a view that, the issue of 1860 -- 61 was 'not union or disunion; but new guarantees to slavery or disunion.'"[p. 274] this comment pretty much sums up what the author has said In the whole book. His promise in the introduction to connect expansionism and slavery can probably be written off as poetic enthusiasm. He writes a very good book combining the two subjects but offers nothing really new. Readers who are already acquainted with this period in our history won't find anything very new. Someone new to the field will find an excellent introduction to the general subject of slavery and its effect on the westward movement. It fails to separate the political, economic, social aspects of this time in American history.

I give this book 4 stars because it is well-written, well researched, and the author faces the same problem that we all do in writing on a time has been so well covered by so many for so long. The fifth star is withheld at the fault of the publisher. The format of the book and the text make it very difficult to read this book without strain I hope when a reissue the book is our hope that they will continuously something will be done to correct this fault.

It is apparent that Mr. Morrison spent many long hours slaving over this book. It is well written, interesting, and a must have for civil war buffs. I only wish Mr. Morrison would write more books. It's heartwarming to see that Mr. Morrison credits his parents Al & Joan Morrison, and his siblings - Chris, Nancy, Jim, and Tony with the fortitude, intellegence and support to get this book completed. Keep up the good work, Mr. Morrison. I want to read more of your books in the future!

An incredibly well researched, well written account of the causes of the American Civil War! It's actually worth the high price!!!

My Dad traded Horses and Ben green is the real deal and is a superb storyteller.All of Ben Green's 5 books are excellent reading. Enjoy stories of a time and place that is woefully gone.

I loved the book. Ben Green gives a wonderful peek into an era gone by. He uses the lingo of the day and the stories are wonderful to anyone interested in horses and days when there were more horses than cars.

This is such a fun book to read that it is hard to put down. The reader learns so many "tricks" of horse trading through Ben Greens stories. It is so enjoyable you will want to buy his other books also.

This was an excellent book. I greatly enjoyed each and every adventure that Ben K. Green takes you through in the book. In a time where everything is done the easy way it is great to be able to look back and see how things realy used to be done. Through this book you are able to get a very clear picture of the old west. I loved reading about all the different ways the horse traders thought of to skam each other and somehow they both thought they were getting a good deal. I thought this book was great and was not able to put it down once I picked it up. I can't wait to read more by Ben K. Green.

Just a awesome book. Not to mention my father-in-law is in it! MSG Herman Spencer!

This a well written factual account of the attempt by the US to free the POW's held in the prison at Son Tay, North Vietnam. John has put forth a great deal of effort to obtain the story as relayed by those who participated in the Raid.

If you haven't heard of the Air Force's Max Friedauer, you're not much of a Special Operator.

And Max says this is "definitely a book you want to read and have in your library."

Enough said!!

Definitely buy the book if you have any interest in reading about the mission and the special ops graybeards who participated in this Vietnam-era POW rescue attempt led by MC-130 Combat Talon aircraft. Until much of the information was declassified, you had to go inside the battalion/wing/squadron vault to read the after action report and lessons learned reports. But even those documents don't come close to providing the insight author John Gargus gives the reader through the eyes of a participant...planner and lead navigator for the strike force. But the book goes much further than that. Gargus is a meticulous researcher who also conducted dozens of interviews with other participants to capture the totality of this one-of-a-kind mission in special ops annals.

Thanks John, you got it "right."

I met Col John Gargus at a Son Tay Symposium and his book is an incredible description of a multi-level and complicated rescue of dozens of Vietnam POWs! The level of detail described by Col Gargus make the reader feel as if they were participating in the raid themselves! Despite the detail, which can get technical, the book is still easy to read. This is not a story written by someone who researched the raid. This is a story written by someone who was there! The heros described in this book defined what it means to be an Airman before the Airman's Creed was developed! A MUST READ!

This book had me gripped from the first paragraph. It is very interesting and well written. I am very interested in the paranormal and this book is a wonderful find for me. I highly recommend this book to everyone. You will find it very hard to put the book down once you start reading.

SPIRITS OF TEXAS AND NEW ENGLAND reads like good conversation! De Los Santos enters the realm of the paranormal with an absorbing collection of real-life stories that make readers feel as if they are sitting listening to an exceptional storyteller. The stories retold by De Los Santos are engaging and full of truthful twists of human nature and show that when in the face of the paranormal, we often become quivering masses of uncertainty. In addition, these stories demonstrate that regardless of time, gender and geography or the circumstances of contact with the supernatural, people's experiences of being human are very much alike. The family members provide some of the liveliest and most vivid stories and De Los Santos includes helpful explanations of paranormal activity. He's a writer with insight and scope.

I recommend Spirits of Texas and New England for several reasons. First off, De Los Santos documents the supernatural experiences of himself, his family, students, and friends. The personal experiences make for a compellingly intimate read that is assured to offer the reader paranormal cases that he or she has not heard. Secondly, unlike other books that I've read on the subject, this work offers explanations on recurrent supernatural themes. Take for example De Los Santos' hypothesis that adolescents encounter ghosts more frequently than adults because their emerging sexuality lowers their defense to other entities and also endows them with an increased awareness of a spirit's presence.

To sum up, what I love most Spirits of Texas and New England is that it's simultaneously elucidating and relatable. It contains everything from everyday ghosts, to inner voices, psychic knowledge, phantom phone calls, astral projection, extraterrestrials, and possession. This is a varied and wonderful book. Highly recommended!!

This book was receommended to me by a friend and I am glad that I gave it a shot. The stories here are realistic even though they are quite strange and about a mysterious world that many of us never give a second thought about. I thought the story about his grandmother calling on the phone was creepy but very heartwarming too. But there are pages after pages of similar events retold by his friends and family. I never thought there were ghosts in Texas because you never hear about them that much. New England is always full of weird stuff, but I was surprised how much happens in Texas too. Well written.

Gregg Cantrell has tackled a sacred cow and come out unscathed. His new book, Stephen F. Austin, Empresario of Texas is a meticulously researched and carefully written profile of a man we only thought we knew.

Our knowledge of Stephen Fuller Austin, is gleaned largely from the work of Eugene C. Barker. His 1925 tome, Life of Stephen F. Austin, painted this renowned figure as "The Father of Texas"...and rightly so. However, the Austin we see in Barker's work is a flat two-dimensional character lacking much of the humanity needed to explain the heroism behind the hero.

Though technically accurate, Barker provided little to help us understand the motivations behind Austin the man or of the dynamic forces that led to the making of a republic.

In Stephen F. Austin, Empresario of Texas. Gregg Cantrell brings to life the real Stephen F. Austin with all of his strengths and foibles. We learn in some depth how Austin was destined for greatness, a direct product of his father's influence. His father, Moses Austin, at one point was quite wealthy and wielded a powerful hand in creating his son in his own image. He wanted him to be a gentleman living in the world of high finance. Who Stephen F. Austin was and the way he thought all bear the mark of Moses Austin's influence.

When the younger Austin grew into manhood, his father put him in charge of various business ventures within the Austin empire. Stephen's training paid off as he showed himself to be adroit at business. Unfortunately, an economic depression and several bad business dealings (mostly initiated by the elder Austin), left the family buried in overwhelming debt.

By 1820, Moses Austin saw a possible way to get his head above financial water. He became the first Anglo to get permission to colonize Spanish Texas. Unfortunately, he died before realizing his goal. His deathbed request was that Stephen bring the colony to fruition. Under a sense of instilled familial loyalty very characteristic of the young Austin, he reluctantly abandoned his own course to obey his father's wishes.

When Mexican independence became a reality, Stephen F. Austin skillfully navigated through the waters of the diplomatic intricacies to which he had been thrust. He began to see that building his colony was a way to repay the enormous debts the family had accumulated and to restore a measure of honor to his father's name. He would make his fortune through land. He threw himself wholeheartedly into the work of colonizing Texas and it soon became clear that it was not just another business venture but a mission. This mission would eventually be to create an independent Texas by any means.

Austin earned the title "Father of Texas" by overseeing every aspect of the colony and the lives of those under his care. He became a fierce advocate for the rights of his colonists and worked tirelessly for many years (many times to his own detriment) to ensure the success of the colony.

His was not an easy task. The central government in Mexico was in a constant state of turmoil. Cantrell shows us that one of Austin's biggest strengths was his ability to forge alliances with the powers at the heart of Mexico and the Tejano elite of Texas. Men like Don Erasmo Seguín and Lorenzo de Zavala had the deepest respect for Stephen F. Austin and shared his vision of Texas. He even earned the respect of those who opposed him.

Throughout the book, Cantrell discusses Austin's struggle with his personal demons. All through his life, Austin was plagued with self-doubt and self-pity. He also experienced bouts of deep depression. His physical stature was not great and sometimes even frail due to chronic illness. What set Stephen F. Austin apart was that he pushed himself to the limits of human endurance and set his own interests aside many times for the good of others. Therein lies his heroism. He persisted when lesser men would have quit.

Our tendency with heroes is to deify them and negate their humanity. Cantrell pulls no punches in revealing the full human nature of Stephen F. Austin. It was surprising to this reader to learn Austin's attitudes toward blacks and toward Catholics. Though in theory, Austin opposed the institution of slavery, he himself owned slaves. He fought diligently for his colonists to keep their slaves and not to free slaves already living in Texas. He feared that if blacks were freed, their number would increase. His vision was for a Texas populated predominately by whites.

He looked upon Catholicism as gross 12th century ignorance, a yoke of oppression that retarded Mexico's progress into the 19th century. Austin seldom voiced these feelings except to a few close friends. It would not have faired well in his diplomatic relations.

Stephen F. Austin was indeed human. He wasn't perfect. He made mistakes; but until his death at age 43, he never faltered in his devotion to Texas.

Stephen F. Austin, Empresario of Texas brings a clear understanding of the events that led to the Texas Revolution. If you have ever wondered why there was an Alamo, Goliad or San Jacinto, then you should read this book.

The narrative is clear and well written and it held my attention from page one. I highly recommend this book.

This biography is written so well, and the story so interesting, it could be a novel from James Michener. If you are interested in Texas history, Southwest history, Mexican history, or Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny, this book is a must read. I'll be VERY suprised if you don't like it.

Comments about the personal development of historical figures are sometimes ignored in favor a list of achievements. Cantrell includes details of how Moses Austin encouraged his son to be a big thinker. The Austin family's "can do" attitude is certainly reflected in in Stephen's life.

This is the first biography of "The Founder of Texas" since Eugene Barker's magisterial work published in 1925. A wait of nearly 75 years for a modern follow-up is tolerable when the results are as good as this.

Austin was a complicated figure; much of his life played out in contradictions: born a Southerner, he was educated in the Northeast; an eloquent and persuasive spokesman in the public arena, he found it difficult expressing his emotions to those closest to him and never married; abhorring slavery, he fought for the right of slavery to exist in Texas; a cultivated man, he spent most of his life on the coarse and harsh frontier; he longed for peace and stability in his life, yet lived during extremely chaotic times; driven to "put his house in order," he claimed his only mission in life was "to redeem Texas from its wilderness state." His father inspired his son to dream big dreams and take on the challenges and responsibilities required to make them realities; when Moses Austin died before being able to colonize the 200,000 acres he acquired in Texas, he left it to Stephen to accomplish. And he did. Austin was not perfect and made mistakes (and enemies); possibly his biggest mistake was going to Washington to petition recognition for Texas at the time that the Alamo fell and, even more importantly, when Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto six weeks later. Recognizing the significance of that victory not only for Texas but for himself, he hastened to Texas from Washington as quickly as possible. He lost the presidency of the Republic to Houston. A sickly man most of his life, he died of fever in December 1836, only six months after his return.

Gregg Cantrell's biography is a pleasure to read. Informative and compelling, it's a "Life" of Austin and not a "Life and Times." He captured my interest right from the beginning; not hesitant to indicate Austin's shortcomings, he also obviously respects the man. It's a solid, well written biography of an important figure in Texas (and American) history. Highly recommended.

This is a great book for anyone interested in history. Its appeal is not only to those who remember Saltillo but to anyone wanting to get a feel for the way people lived in a small town during the 1930s and 1940s. I particularly enjoyed the colloquialisms in many of the stories.

Stories of Saltillo, compiled by Tom Minter, is a collection of personal anecdotes of life in the 30s and 40s in a small northeast Texas town. The stories provide a glimpse into a now nearly vanished world where people worked hard, were grateful for what they had, believed in God, and exercised common sense. Places like Saltillo practiced the philosophy that in a village the proper raising of children was everyone's responsibility long before Hillary Clinton ever thought of it.

Children of that era could run and play and have adventures in the woods without fear of being abducted or reported to the authorities. An individual foolish enough to attempt to ravage the peace and innocence of such a town would have been dispatched with deadly efficiency by men whose ancestors had fought Mexican soldiers, Comanches, Yankees, and your everyday desperadoes. A trial was optional.

A man might live his whole life in Saltillo and pass away happily, having never seen a film or ridden in an automobile. But that same man had known something else, the tranquility and sense of belonging that came from living some place where people knew and cared how you and your loved ones were and would actually risk their own health and fortune to help in times of trouble. It is a story of a better America, less materially secure, but far wealthier in terms of values and decency.

Stories of Saltillo provides wonderful insight into what it was like growing up in a small Texan town back in the mid-20th century. The stories strike me as incredibly straightforward and down-to-earth. For anyone who was born or raised in the South, this book will most likely make you homesick!

The photos in this book are an amazing collection and provide particular visual insight; I also like the fact that each story was written by an individual who really lived it - not just from a third-party viewpoint.

This book is a great read for anyone nostalgic for a time when things moved just a little bit slower!

A true testament of our American culture and heritage.

Stories of Saltillo is a wonderful book and has lots of historical facts as well as some really cute stories. There is one about a family of entertainers that traveled by covered wagon and it has lots of pictures. You don't have to be from Saltillo to enjoy this book.

Tales of Old-time Texas is classic story telling at its best. J. Frank Dobie weaves you in and out of stories of the old-west in Texas. Cowboys, Indians, bank robbers, mythical beasts, gold, hidden treasures: this collection of stories has it all. Dobie writes down stories from the past as told to him. Makes you ready to get your maps of Texas out and go prospecting.

It is for good reason that J. Frank Dobie is known as the Southwest's master storyteller. With his eye for color and detail, his ear for rhythm of language and song, he movingly spins tales of Texas collective heritages. This is a collection of 28 stories filled with vivid characters, exciting historical episodes, and traditional themes.

This is a great old book. Read about Josiah Wilbarger, who lived through a scalping and the woman who found him in her dreams, a bear who stole a pig and fattened it up, a ghost rider, a thief who took things from homes and walked right by the owner's dogs, a man who fought a tribe of hostile Indians singlehanded with the help of a load of hickory nuts, and various amusing stories about lost treasure and frontier life. This book is a treasure trove of tall tales and yarns that I couldn't put down.

Forget about the Alamo, San Jacinto and the heros that have made Texas famous throughout the world. Here are the stories only the real Texans know about. These are the stories my grandmother used to tell me when I was a kid. They carry on the tall-tale tradition and reinforce the Texan image of grandeur and hyperbole.