Lone Star: A History Of Texas And The Texans [Paperback]

T.R. Fehrenbach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2000

Here is an up-to-the-moment history of the Lone Star State, together with an insider's look at the people, politics, and events that have shaped Texas from the beginning right up to our days. Never before has the story been told with more vitality and immediacy. Fehrenbach re-creates the Texas saga from prehistory to the Spanish and French invasions to the heyday of the cotton and cattle empires. He dramatically describes the emergence of Texas as a republic, the vote for secession before the Civil War, and the state's readmission to the Union after the War. In the twentieth century oil would emerge as an important economic resource and social change would come. But Texas would remain unmistakably Texas, because Texans "have been made different by the crucible of history; they think and act in different ways, according to the history that shaped their hearts and minds."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Thought-provoking, highly original...a most distinctive chapter of American and Southern history." -- Virginia Quarterly Review

About the Author

T. R. Fehrenbach,a native Texan, is the author of several books, including Fire and Blood: A History of Mexico and Comanches: The Destruction of a People, both available from Da Capo. He lives in San Antonio.

Product Details

• Paperback: 792 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (April 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306809427
• ISBN-13: 978-0306809422
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehesive, unapologetic view of Texas history., August 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans (Hardcover)

This is by far the best history of Texas I've ever read. I am a fith generation Texan whose family arrived here from Georgia in the 1830's and 40's. Feherenbach is neither romantic nor aplogetic about the State's raucous and turbulent past. His discussion of the frontier wars is especially helpful in understanding why Spain and Mexico could never gain a firm foothold in Texas, the critical factor that led Mexico to legitimize and encourage Anglo-American emigration in the 1820's. The historical ramifications of this odd and little understood policy and the subsequent Anglo Texas/Comanche wars on the Texas frontier are largely responsible for the State's distictive social and political character. This is the one book that should be read by anyone having a serious interest in Texas history.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of its class, July 21, 2008

By 

David M. Dougherty (Arkansas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Lone Star: A History Of Texas And The Texans (Paperback)

My volume is the original 1968 version, so my comments do not emcompass whatever changes have been introduced in the recent edition. Nonetheless, Fehrenbach's book is simply the best of the breed with respect to a single volume history of Texas and its people.

If you are politically correct, you will not like the historical accuracy of this book. The author clearly gives the Scotch-Irish (Anglo-Celts) their due for pushing the frontier westwards, settling Texas, and giving it its "Texas" tradition. One reviewer speaks of the absence of the Hispanic contribution, but it must be remembered that at the time of the Texas Revolution, Anglos outnumbered Mexicans ten to one in Texas. Indeed, the growth of Mexican population figures in Texas is a post World War II phenomenon, and the current ethnic composition is of recent vintage. The author is historically correct to limit his coverage of Mexicans in Texas to south of the Nueces, San Antonio, the Rio Grande valley and Ybarbo's group until after World War II. Had the Mexicans been able to defeat the Lipan Apaches and Comanches, the history would have been different.

Another reviewer pans the book due to the author's leaving out a reference to a diary's author and then proceeds to allege the meeting in question was fictional. Based on this single case, he relegates the entire book to fictional status. It seems to me that there must be something else at work here.

The author tells it like it was. Attitudes such as the Indians losing their land because they didn't develop it were normal in the time period involved, and the choice to fight for the Confederacy did revolve more around fighting with and for kin and neighbors rather than an abstract idea like states rights or anything else. In addition, Texas had only recently joined the Union, and the belief that it had the right to secede from the Union was widespread (and probably judicially correct except that the Civil War eliminated that viewpoint in law for the forseeable future.) And yes, Indians, blacks and Mexicans were looked down upon as inferior in general by the Scotch-Irish almost until the book was first written. But saying that this attitude was prevalent doesn't make the author racist or inaccurate in his depiction of the reality of the times. Observations on Indian culture and civilization may offend the politically correct individual in the twentieth century, but that does not make them less accurate. Those who wish to make a counter argument should do so in their own work, not simply rant against a position without supporting observations or facts.

One negative reviewer has a legitimate criticism in bemoaning the lack on emphasis on water availability. This was particularly important west of Sweetwater and San Antonio, but one should recognize that any single volume will have omissions due to space. That does not make a book not worth reading -- only that it does not cover some reviewer's pet points. The author has done the best possible job of covering Texas history in 719 pages and should be commended.

This book is a "must" for any American interested in American History even if one does not agree with certain depictions or feels significant events or discussions are missing.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Story!, July 28, 2001

By 

John L. Allums (Irving, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lone Star: A History Of Texas And The Texans (Paperback)

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.