Rating: 
Summary: Best Texas History Book Ever Written
Review: I am a fifth generation Texan--both paternal and maternal ancestors came to Texas in the 1850's. The book explains why the events in Texas history caused the state to be what it is today. It is invaluable to newcomers in understanding Texas politics, culture and history. My favorite chapters include the Amerinds and the impact of the Spanish mustang on Indian culture, Anglo-Celtic migration, the battle for independence i.e. Goliad, the Alamo(best description ever written) & San Jacinto, the impact of the Colt pistol on taming the west, the cattle culture, the War between the States and Reconstruction. I recommend this book to every native Texan so that he/she can understand his/her heritage better and to new Texans so that they can understand why Texans are so proud of their state. I hope that Mr Fehrenbach will release a new edition for the next millennium...It's time for one.
Rating:
Summary: Comprehesive, unapologetic view of Texas history.
Review: I am a fifth generation Texan. My matriarchal lineage arrived on the Texas frontier from Tennessee in 1855. My patriarchal lineage arrived from Virginia in January 1859. All my life, I heard stories from the family about the early years in Texas. Also, I noticed a difference between Texans and Texas and the citizens of the other states that we visited on vacation in the 1950's and 60's. A student of Texas history, I received the book as a gift in 1986 for the Sesquicentennial. Mr. Feherenbach tells the story like a kindly grandfather..."this happens and then this happens; so-and-so does that, and that's why things are the way they are." Understanding the "why" of history makes the story come alive. My favorite chapters include the discussion of how the introduction of European horses and cattle change American history forever. The dispersion of the Spanish Mustang about 1680 leads to the highpoint of the Plains Amerind (Indian) culture; the cow contributes to the devastation. The Anglo-Celt and the Way West chapters discuss westward migration. I consider the chapter on the Alamo to be the best ever written in a general presentation. Houston's victory at San Jacinto and his politically unpopular defense of the Union 25 years later are equal aspects of the man. Civil War and Reconstruction also affect the state, but the cattle drives beginning in the 1870's bring new wealth to the state that hastens the state's recovery faster than the Deep South. Likewise the Constitution of 1876 still affects Texas and US politics even today in ways that are not readily appreciated. I recommend the book to all students of history. To the native Texan, it gives a valuable insight into our native land. To the newcomer, it explains why Texas is more than a state, it is a "state of mind," and why so many newcomers decide they "don't wanna ever leave!" To all readers, it is a wonderfully told story that many will read again and again.
Rating: 
Summary: Be warned
Review: I read only the first chapter of this book before I decided to return it, and here's why. Fehrenbach's history proved to be based on old and often incorrect information. All of his coverage of the early Native Americans inhabiting Texas comes from archaeological texts from the 1950s and 60s, which I discovered upon examining his 5 page bibliography. When Fehrenbach published his updated 2000 edition he would have done well start over and re-research this entire section, because not only is it filled with facts that have been disproven, but its tone is blatantly racist. This is more than apparent in his inappropriate word choice, references to racial distinctions, and constant comparison of tribes as more or less civilized. I don't know how else to interpret sentences such as "The Apache society never climbed to true barbarism, but remained savage throughout its independent history" (p. 17), or contradictory sentiments like: "Each family group was self-sufficient; brothers espoused dead brothers' wives, because in a society devoid of organization there could be no orphans or widows" (18). The "Old Americans" Fehrenbach cites as arriving 37,000 years ago are bunk. He depicts all later "Amerinds" as war-like savages, "virtually all [of which] took scalps" (6) and emphasizes prejudiced European accounts of their supposed animal-like natures. "Civilized men," he intones, "caught in their modern traps and pressures, have often looked longingly toward the seeming freedom, and barbaric majesty, of the Stone Age, nomadic Amerind male. Females did his bidding; he seldom soiled his hands with labor" (6). I would expect these comments from late 19th century colonialist propoganda, not serious history texts a century later. Sad to say, this opening chapter destroyed my interest in learning the rest of Texas' history from Fehrenbach. Perhaps he redeems himself later, but the fact is, I am worried that I will not recognize his other mistakes if he makes them. I certainly would not want anyone to accept his first chapter as an accurate portrayal of Texas' prehistory: it is an anthropologists' nightmare. I am concerned that a book as seemingly outmoded as this one is on the market with a 2000 copyright on it.
Rating:
Summary: This is THE history of Texas and the men who made it great
Review: In a crisp, authoritative and compellingly readable style Fehrenbach wraps the history of Texas up like no other.Beginning with this part of the continent's emergence from pre-history, Fehrenbach introduces us to its earliest inhabitants. We travel with the peaceful Indians who migrated from Wyoming through Nebraska and New Mexico into Texas, afoot and gathering their food from wild plants. The "lowly gatherers", they were called, confined to the ground they could cover on foot, and little match for the fleet game that abounded on every hand. But when they encountered horses brought in by the Spanish they became obsessed with horsemanship. Large numbers of horses were stolen in nighttime raids on Spanish remudas and the "gatherers" were transformed into the fiercest Indians on the North American continent: the Comanches. With their new mobility they could appear from nowhere, strike the Spanish settlements and disappear into nowhere like the passing wind. Better horsemen have never lived, and horses have never been used as instruments of war with such expertness as they were used by the Comanches. The Spanish incursion was pushed back, and further back. So when Stephen F. Austin applied to the Mexican authorities to settle eastern Texas he was seen as added defenses against the marauding Comanches. Houston was given huge grants of land and he brought in settlers. Spanish soldiers -- fighting for they knew not what -- were one thing. Men fighting the Comanches to protect their homesteads were something else, and they fought back blow for blow. So the Comanches were encouraged to occupy west Texas, leaving the settlers the eastern part of the land pretty much alone. At some point the Mexican authorities became uneasy over the large numbers of settlers coming in and friction arose. Austin was forcibly detained during a negotiating confab in Mexico, but still the settlers came. Eventually, after Houston's release, the differences between the settlers and their Spanish overlords became hostilities that ultimately led to the Battle of the Alamo. The long siege of the Alamo allowed a prolonged consolidation and retreat of General Sam Houston's ragtag army -- a retreat that was roundly criticized by politicians issuing proclamations from their comfortable homes -- that ended in the decisive fight for independence in a low-lying palmetto and scrub-oak studded swamp east of today's Houston -- the Battle of San Jacinto. There, 800 untrained but well-led and determined Texians staged a daring midday attack on the 1,500-man Mexican army led by the feared General Santa Anna -- a confident army enjoying its siesta, arms neatly stacked. It was Santa Anna who had taken over the Alamo siege from his subordinate and ended the holdout, and it was he who would annihilate the Texian army once and for all. But in less than an hour General Sam Houston's men, shouting "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad" killed 600 Mexicans and wounded 200. They would capture 700, including Santa Anna. The general had disguised himself as a common soldier, but was unveiled when an officer saluted him. Six of General Houston's men were killed and 30 wounded. Texas was free of Mexican rule forever and The Republic of Texas was a reality. Texas bred some ferocious fighters, and from their ranks evolved a group of lawmen/fighters never equaled in U.S. history: The Texas Rangers -- not the politicized force of today, but a strategic fighting unit of such gritty ferociousness that it could, and did, change the course of a war. It pulled General Zachary Taylor's fat out of the fire in the war between the U.S. and Mexico in 1846, allowing victory at Monterey. The Rangers applied their uncanny scouting skills, learned from the Comanches, to discover the precise locations and numbers of Mexican field units. This tactical advantage, plus the Rangers' superbly effective strategies and fearless battle tactics that harried the Mexican army, were critical to the U.S. victory at Monterey. It was during the 8-week truce there, while the city was occupied by Taylor's army, that a hapless Mexican snatched a bandanna from a mounted Ranger and was shot dead in his tracks. Taylor brought in the Rangers' Captain to dress him down, only to be told that the Captain would not order his men to tolerate the slightest display of disrespect from a Mexican. General Taylor and the Rangers won the north of Mexico. Taylor went on to become president. Ranger Rip Ford remained a Ranger. Even when the state had become relatively peaceful, Ford would emerge from his San Antonio hotel, stand quiet and still in the shadow of the porch, hand on his Colt, wary eyes examining the street scene before venturing forth. Texas was an independent Republic when it joined the United States, which is why none of its territory would be carved out and reserved by the U.S. Government, as happened to every other state that was "granted" statehood. Those portions of Texas now owned by the U.S. were sold or granted to the federal government by the State for some specific purpose...
Rating:
Summary: What a Story!
Review: Marvelous! This is the book I've been looking for about Texas History since I first moved here 10 years ago. Fehrenbach not only makes individual characters like Stephan F. Austin and John "Rip" Ford come alive with interest and passion, but he does a first rate job with the larger historical currents such as the westward movement of the "anglo-celts" across the continent or the economic and social impact of the Spanish Mustang on the Native Americans. The scope of the book is vast and it is almost too long and involved for an amateur like me with limited time. However the story is so compelling and even riveting that at times I could hardly put it down. It almost reads like a good novel. The narrative overflows the strict confines of what might be considered "Texas History." The author ventures far afield in time, distance and circumstance to weave the various historical threads together into the drama of Texas. It is a work for those interested in American, Southern, Southwestern, Native American or Mexican History. It is a good reference. The book was written some time ago (1968) and has been updated (2000). It is relatively free of sterile "correct" language which I think allows it to be wonderfully original and more credible. It is not a whitewash. The author is sometimes unapologetic and he can offend. He does criticize but also gives admiration, credit and praise where I did not expect it. This is a man who wants to get to the heart and soul of the matter. He knows these colorful people and their setting and through his perceptive narrative you interact with them, too. You can almost see and touch them. This is just dog-gone interesting stuff! This book is a keeper. It has found a permanent spot on my shelf even if I move far away from Texas. I hope you get as much out of it as I did.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: Texans will not like this review but I thought this book quite simply missed its mark. Texas is a wonderful place with a rich, complex and deep history. Texans are the warmest, most friendly people I have ever met. So where was the discussion of the Hispanic contribution? Where was the discussion of the horror of the KKK and its political and regulatory power? Why was the discussion of the Texas Rangers so brief and superficial? And why was Texas' significant contribution to the Confederacy during the War Between the States so understated? The Indian Wars are not covered adequately and by definition then neither are the Buffalo soldiers. Neither is the Texas Revolution, Texas' admission to the Union, the War with Mexico or an outstanding figure by the name of Sam Houston. The section addressing the Reconstruction period was very good but almost nothing was mentioned about the impact of the immigration centers such as Jefferson, Indianola or Galveston which also occurred during Reconstruction. And what about water? To a non-Texan this last comment probably sounds silly. But water was, and still is today, a most precious commodity, a prime economic development driver. This is one dry state. The impact of water or the lack thereof shapes everything about Texas from its history to its economy, agricultural practices, the location and growth of population centers, its politics and its future. This book is a substantive effort. But so much was missed and so much time was spent on the arcane that I just wound up feeling very sorry for the author.
Rating: 
Summary: Dry as the Texas soil
Review: The best history of Texas, no exceptions, is T.R. Fehrenbach's Lone Star - A History of Texas and the Texans. I just finished re-reading it this past spring. He first published this back in 1968 (I have an original edition copy, by the way, given to me by my grandfather when I was about 12 years old), and I must say, he got it a lot more right on just about every topic than any of the revisionists of the past 30 years. Interestingly enough, a growing body of the most recent scholarship is now reconfirming the kind of analysis that Fehrenbach nailed the first time. It can only be hoped this trend indicates that the PC ideologues who have dominated anthropology and history departments the past three decades are finally passing from the scene, and that high quality writing and analysis of the sort exemplified by Fehrenbach is returning. Fehrenbach had no ideological ax to grind - he told the stories as good historians do, by reference to the documentation and with fidelity to the spirit of the characters and events. All that aside, Fehrenbach is a just plain good writer, not to mention a great historian, and Lone Star is good reading as well as good history. It's the kind of book Texans ought to have on the shelf, to pull down and read about various periods and episodes in Texas history when the occasion arises....Certainly no Texan should be without it.....
Rating:
Summary: Why Texans abroad say they are from Texas, and not the US
Review: The story of Texas, as drawn from its history, is far more interesting and provocative than any novel could ever be. T.R. Fehrenbach provides a wonderfully sweeping view of the geography, the "aboriginals", the conquistadors, the newly independent Mexico with its 1824 constitution, and a deep insight into the minds and hearts of those who wrested Texas from Mexico --- from (as the Texas Declaration of Independence says) "the tyranny of the priesthood and the sword." The book tells of the "Comanche Line" of forts out in the western part of the frontier -- and of its commanding officer, R.E. Lee, who, at the time of the secession, was in command of 10% of the standing army of the United States!
From Reconstruction, through the initial oil discoveries, the Great Depression, and the rise of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the story of Texas before OPEC, is compelling reading. Because Texas was the only nation to enter the Union, there remains a strong "national" pride in the hearts of native Texans who, when travelling abroad and asked where they are from, more often than not, say TEXAS, and not the USA. The former is natural, and the latter does not even occur to them. The Lone Star will give the reader a better understanding of why this is so.
Rating:
Summary: Why Texans abroad say they are from Texas, and not the US
Review: The story of Texas, as drawn from its history, is far more interesting and provocative than any novel could ever be. T.R. Fehrenbach provides a wonderfully sweeping view of the geography, the "aboriginals", the conquistadors, the newly independent Mexico with its 1824 constitution, and a deep insight into the minds and hearts of those who wrested Texas from Mexico --- from (as the Texas Declaration of Independence says) "the tyranny of the priesthood and the sword." The book tells of the "Comanche Line" of forts out in the western part of the frontier -- and of its commanding officer, R.E. Lee, who, at the time of the secession, was in command of 10% of the standing army of the United States!
From Reconstruction, through the initial oil discoveries, the Great Depression, and the rise of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the story of Texas before OPEC, is compelling reading. Because Texas was the only nation to enter the Union, there remains a strong "national" pride in the hearts of native Texans who, when travelling abroad and asked where they are from, more often than not, say TEXAS, and not the USA. The former is natural, and the latter does not even occur to them. The Lone Star will give the reader a better understanding of why this is so.
Rating:
Summary: Absolute Must Have
Review: This is an exhaustive - and lengthy - book on not just Texas but the the history of the area before there was a Texas, the countries who owned it, the men who settled it and the people who made it what it is today. The author gives a throrough treatment on every topic and that is more amazing than it sounds. If you are studying Texas, or the Frontier, or the Civil War, or slavery, or sociology of American (not just Texan) development - you should read this book. It is fact filled AND interesting.
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