Customer Reviews

Galveston: A City on Stilts (General History: Texas)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Coming out on the heels of hurricane "Ike" this outstanding pictorial history of the "1900 Storm" is both timely and inspiring. Timely because of the very recent storm experience [especially by those of us who live on the Gulf Coast] and inspiring because of the spirit of the people who rebuilt the island after that devastating storm. The authors have given us both poignant photos [found fairly recently by the granddaughter of the man who took them] and readable prose to pique our interest in reading more. It is a 'must read' for anyone interested in how this community not only survived after the "storm of the century," but thrived as well.

This book is about a group of pictures taken as Galveston undertook two difficult civil engineering projects, building the seawall and raising the grade of much of the city. The pictures would be very informative, but the authors have done an extraordinary job of researching what the pictures show and providing the supporting information in extended captions. A wonderful look at what life was like in Galveston at that point, and about how the projects were realized.

Timely because the city is recovering from Hurricane Ike.

This book was given to me as a present. Excellent book and photos from Edworthy.
I could not put it down ... photos are museum worthy. A must read! Highly recommend.

What an awesome book to have on your coffee table or on your book shelf! Galveston is rich with history and this book gives a great interpretation of that long past.

This was a great look back in history. The pictures were great! It was so interesting.

There is a new historical pictorial titled:

Galveston: A City on Stilts (General History: Texas) by Jodi Wright-Gidley and Jennifer Marines (Paperback - Oct 13, 2008)

Just in case you don't want to wade through my review, here's what I'm going to conclude: YOU SHOULD BUY THE BOOK.

Now, on with my thoughts:

The book is primarily a selection of photos taken by a professional photographer named Zeva B. Edworthy, who lived in the city for about eleven years after the famous 1900 Storm. They apparently were never shared with the public.

The photos were inadvertently found by his daughter, Judith Wray. She had stored them along with other of her mother's possessions after her mother's estate was settled some years ago. When she found them recently, she donated them to the Galveston County Historical Museum.

I had not seen the photos before, although I have done a good deal of formal, academic research and written about my hometown off and on throughout most of my 68 years.

Along with the photos in the new book are brief narratives. Most appear to me to be accurate although I did find some minor errors and omissions.

Parenthetically, most of the Galveston books that have been written in recent years have been authored by people who are not native Galvestonians and further, who are not decendents of those who knew and told the stories. I think this is an unfortunate oversight.

This is the case here. Frankly, it always astonishes me when these sources are overlooked by those who are outsiders and who are wanting readers to accept them as authorities.

The best living authority on the 1900 Storm, for an example, is Galvestonian Linda Macdonald. Apparently the authors of this book didn't see the need to consult her, opting instead to take their directions from many whose names are either unfamiliar to me, or whom I know have only lived on the Island for a short time.

Old Galvestonians like me refer to this breed as "carpetbaggers" when we speak privately among ourselves and momentarily edge over into being catty.

In all fairness, though, the authors did pick two good, "real," and knowledgable Galvestonians to speak with: Lou Graves MacBeth and Dorothy Lee McDonald Karilanovic.

Nevertheless, with all of this being said, every person interested in Galveston should buy this book. It's well done, and the authors and those who helped them deserve our thanks. And I thank my lifelong friends, Victor and Judy Damiani for giving me an autographed copy for Christmas.

This was a good book with some great pictures of Galveston. My only disappointment was that I thought there would be more about the 1900 hurricane.

The many vintage photos of turn-of-the-century Galveston are the closest thing to a trip back in time. The irony of it all is that Hurricane Ike's damage, which swept over the island shortly after the book was published, has dealt a blow to Galveston that it may never recover from.