Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

A huge, riveting, deeply imagined novel about the siege and fall of the Alamo in 1836-an event that formed the consciousness of Texas and that resonates through American history-The Gates of the Alamo follows the lives of three people whose fates become bound to the now-fabled Texas fort: Edmund McGowan, a proud and gifted naturalist whose life's work is threatened by the war against Mexico; the resourceful,... (more)

Stephen F. Austin: Empresario of Texas

by Gregg Cantrell

Known as a daring pioneer and the "Father of Texas," Stephen F. Austin has nevertheless remained an enigmatic hero. This book is the first major biography of Austin in more than seventy years, at last bringing into sharp focus his private life, motives, personality, character, and skills he employed as a central player in events leading to the Texas Revolution and the establishment of the Lone Star Republic.

The Borderland : A Novel of Texas

by Edwin Shrake

In the bestselling tradition of Larry McMurtry, a sweeping novel that tells the tale of how mighty Texas was born -- now available in paperback. In this epic novel set in 1839, author Edwin Shrake, himself a Texan, presents a portrait of Texas as it was, a borderland between civilization and the unknown. There were fortunes to be made, vast areas of land to be gained, and battles to be fought and won.... (more)

Passionate Nation: The Epic History of Texas

Passionate Nation: The Epic History of Texas

by James L. Haley

Texas has become the most American of all the states. Texas's politics has taken over in Washington, and Texas's passionate sense of itself as a nation is echoed by the fervent patriotism of tens of millions of Americans. Texas is also our most outsized hodgepodge -- of Latino, black, white, Asian; of characters who transcend any category. In so many ways, America today is Texas writ large. In Passionate Nation ... (more)

A Paradise Called Texas (Texas Trilogy (Eakin Press))

A Paradise Called Texas (Texas Trilogy (Eakin Press))

by Janice Jordan Shefelman

Searching for a better life, Mina and her parents leave their German fatherland in 1845 and sail to Texas where they find hardship, tragedy, and adventure.

The Caddos, the Wichitas, and the United States, 1846-1901 (Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students, Texas a & M University)

The Caddos, the Wichitas, and the United States, 1846-1901 (Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students, Texas a & M University)

by F. Todd Smith

The Mason County "Hoo Doo" War, 1874-1902 (A.C. Greene Series)

The Mason County "Hoo Doo" War, 1874-1902 (A.C. Greene Series)

by David Johnson

In 1874 the "Hoo Doo" War erupted in the Texas Hill Country of Mason County. The feud began with the rise of the mob under Sheriff John Clark, but it was not until the premeditated murder of rancher Timothy Williamson in 1875, a murder orchestrated by Sheriff Clark, that the violence escalated out of control. His death drew former Texas Ranger Scott Cooley to the region seeking justice, and when the courts failed,... (more)

Our Land Before We Die

by Jeff Guinn

In Our Land Before We Die , Jeff Guinn traces the little-known history of the runaway slaves who fled to the Florida Everglades to live alongside the Seminole Indians. Deeply rooted in tribal oral history, and based on extensive interviews with descendants, this book describes the incredible circumstances of a people who sought shelter in the shadow of a tribe whose land and welfare already hung in the balance.... (more)

The Women and Children of the Alamo

by Crystal Sasse Ragsdale

The riveting story of the Alamo ends in tragedy with no brave defender left alive to tell his tale, but there were others who did survive the final massacre--more than a dozen women and children. The thirteen days of the siege and fall of the Alamo have been studied, examined, probed, and researched by students and historians for over 150 years, but here is the Alamo's story by the ones who were there.

A HISTORY OF TEXAS AND THE TEXANS LONE STARR.T Fehrenbach

A HISTORY OF TEXAS AND THE TEXANS LONE STAR

by R.T Fehrenbach

The Raven: A Biography of Sam Houston

by Marquis James

"This is the stuff of which legend is made, this story of the making of Texas, and Houston is one with those semilegendary characters--with Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett, with Marion the Swamp Fox and Ethan Allen. . . . In a sense he is too good to be true, this man who wrought such mighty deeds within the lifetime of our fathers and grandfathers; in a sense if he had not existed we should have had to create... (more)

Building the Lone Star: An Illustrated Guide to Historic Sites (Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students Texas A & M University)

Building the Lone Star: An Illustrated Guide to Historic Sites (Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students Texas A & M University)

by T. Lindsay Baker

The New Handbook of Texas (6 Volume Set)

Life Among the Texas Indians: The Wpa Narratives (Elma Dill Russell Spencer Foundation Series in the West and Southwest, No 18)

Life Among the Texas Indians: The Wpa Narratives (Elma Dill Russell Spencer Foundation Series in the West and Southwest, No 18)

by David La Vere

Historian David La Vere has gathered a wealth of vivid detail about life among the former Texas Indian peoples, including the Kiowas, Comanches, Wichitas, Caddos, Tonkawas, and Lipan Apaches. Culled from 112 volumes of the Indian-Pioneer Histories in the Indian Archives at the Oklahoma Historical Society, these oral histories also include interviews with non-Indian neighbors. Together, their recollections provide... (more)

A Texas Frontier: The Clear Fork Country and Fort Griffin, 1849-1887

A Texas Frontier: The Clear Fork Country and Fort Griffin, 1849-1887

by Ty Cashion

Hood's Texas Brigade: Its marches, its battles, its achievements (Facsimile)J. B Polley

Hood's Texas Brigade: Its marches, its battles, its achievements (Facsimile)

by J. B Polley

Imperial Texas: An Interpretive Essay in Cultural Geography

Imperial Texas: An Interpretive Essay in Cultural Geography

by D. W. Meinig

Imperial Texas examines the development of Texas as a human region, from the simple outline of the Spanish colony to the complex patterns of the modern state. In this study in cultural geography set into a historical framework, D. W. Meinig, professor of geography at Syracuse University, discusses the "various peoples of Texas, who they are, where they came from, where they settled, and how they are proportioned... (more)

True Tales of Texas

by Bertha Mae Cox

A collection of tales about people and events in Texas history arranged in chronological order from the sixteenth century to the present day.

Rudder's Rangers : The True Story of the 2nd Ranger Battalion D-Day Combat Action

Rudder's Rangers : The True Story of the 2nd Ranger Battalion D-Day Combat Action

by Ronald L. Lane

Rudder’s Rangers is the true story of the men of the United States Army’s Second Ranger Battalion. The author introduces the commander, Lieutenant Colonel James Earl Rudder, and the men of the battalion as they are preparing to climb aboard their small assault landing craft which will take them to shore on a Top Secret, exceptionally dangerous D-Day mission. He presents the facts of their formation, training and... (more)

Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense.

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The Gates of the Alamo

by Stephen Harrigan