Customer Reviews

Texas: A Compact History

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

 

 

The book in general is okay, but the author apparently had no one to edit the book for him. On page 16, NASA is called the "National Air and Space Agency" (it's the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Later in the book (around p.225), NASA is called the "National Space and Aeronautics Administration", which doesn't even make sense (NSAA?).

Those are small things to be sure, but basic facts like those make you question the accuracy and thoroughness of the research performed before writhing the book. Also, as another reviewer has mentioned, the author repeatedly uses words that grammatically make no sense (euphony instead of euphemism is just one of probably five examples I can think of).

The book is a quick read and is filled with basic facts that give the reader a general understanding of the history of Texas, but I suspect there are better texts than this one that accomplish that feat.

Texas: A Compact History condenses hundreds of years of Texas history into a no-nonsense chronological narrative. A phrase in bold marks the main topic being discussed every few paragraphs, allowing for quick and easy browsing of highlighted historical events. An index rounds out this easy-to-follow guide, especially ideal for browsing prior to traveling to Texas for business or pleasure. "The elimination of the buffalo produced two significant results in Texas. It forced the Indians to remain on reservations to obtain food and it opened th plains for the spread of cattle raising." Enthusiastically recommended for anyone who wants to quickly familiarize themselves with Texas history.

This book is appropriate for, perhaps, a junior high school or high school student. The language is very basic, the historical analysis is very superficial, the formatting is sometimes sloppy (one of the poems placed as epigraphs to each chapter is supposed to be in two columns, but the columns run together, which makes the poem incomprehensible), and there are embarrassing typos ("functions" for "fluctuations," "euphony" for "euphemism," etc.).

The book has two virtues. First, I'm not aware of any information that's actually false, so at least you can learn the basic facts of Texas history from this book. (But take this with a grain of salt, because I barely know any Texas history!) Second, at 230 pages, it's very short and can be read in a day or two. (That second factor was the reason I bought the book.) But for my next book on Texas history, I'm going to try Campbell's "Gone to Texas," which is twice as long but has excellent reviews.

The history was great to read about these small towns and have started doing some traveling to these fun small towns. Great Service, quick and easy.

I had to read Texas: A Compact History for a college class, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would say that the book is meant more for middle school or high school level classes, but I enjoyed it all the same. I had never had a Texas history course, so this book gave a wonderful overview of Texas history without bogging down readers in too much detail. I was able to learn about events I had never heard of and learn a little bit more about ones I had. Overall, it was a quick read and very enjoyable!

Texas A Compact History combines hundreds of years worth of history in one book. This book will provide the reader with a brief overview of the history of Texas.This book is ideal for anyone wanted to quickly gain and greater understanding of Texas history. The skill level of this book mirrors something that I would have read in high school but it was helpful in college too.

I got this as a compliment to my Texas History Textbook. It is a great quick reference and has quite a bit of information for such a small book. I used it with every assignment.

Nice little book that tells mostly what I wanted - a concise history of the state of Texas; wished it had more in the way of drawings/pics. Unfortunately, it didn't say much about a couple of the events I was really interested in, and did say more on topics not as interesting to me.

This book is an exellent overview of the who, what, when, where and why of Texas. I encourage anyone who is interested in catching a glimpse of the making of Texas to read this book. It is well laid out and further more it is an easy read that will surely provide you with useful knowledge.