The Constitution was written simply and clearly. It is a written document, signed by the first state representatives, and the legislatures of every state that has joined the Union since that time. This book emphasizes what it actually says. Although it was written over 200 years ago using archaic terminology, there is no real ambiguity about the meaning of the text. Read it for yourself and you decide what it means. The Constitution is a written instrument. As such, its meaning does not alter. That which it meant when it was adopted, it means now.
THE "UNSINKABLE" MEETS THE UNTHINKABLE -- A gripping account of the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic. It took 4,000 men to build it, 23 tons of animal grease to slide it into the ocean, 100,000 people to wave bon voyage, but only one wrong move to tear the Titanic apart, sinking it into the pages of history. On a cold moonless night in April of 1912, 2,000 passengers--both the uber-rich enjoying a luxury cruise and the dirt-poor hoping to find a new life in America--struggled to survive. Only 700 succeeded. Lifeboats were launched half-full; women were forced to leave their husbands and sons behind; and even those who made it out alive were forever haunted, constantly wondering "why me?" Told through captivating prose and chilling first-hand accounts, Don Brown takes the pieces of the broken Titanic and gives it such a vivid shape that you'd swear you've never heard the story before.
This unique collection of short biographies of the Lone Star State’s most colorful characters includes headliners Father Miguel Muldoon, the Irish-Spanish Catholic priest and diplomat who helped convert Protestants in order to settle Austin, and six-foot-two prostitute and hotelkeeper Sarah Bowman, who fought as bravely as a man among the Rangers and was buried with full military honors. These are just two of the pioneers who helped build the state amidst wars with Seminoles and Mexicans, gold rushes, and cavalry formations. These fourteen vivid accounts of extraordinary lives are like no other history of Texas and will reach a wide audience of readers who love to read about real people.
This book is an existential interpretation of a seventy-five year spiritual pilgrimmage. It is an honest appraisal of that trip, including conclusions drawn from experience relating to public and private institutions as well as personal experience.
William P. “Will” Hobby Sr. and Oveta Culp Hobby were one of the most influential couples in Texas history. Both were major public figures, with Will serving as governor of Texas and Oveta as the first commander of the Women’s Army Corps and later as the second woman to serve in a presidential cabinet. Together, they built a pioneering media empire centered on the Houston Post and their broadcast properties, and they played a significant role in the transformation of Houston into the fourth largest city in the United States. Don Carleton’s dual biography details their personal and professional relationship—defined by a shared dedication to public service—and the important roles they each played in local, state, and national events throughout the twentieth century. This deeply researched book not only details this historically significant partnership, but also explores the close relationships between the Hobbys and key figures in twentieth-century history, from Texas legends such as LBJ, Sam Rayburn, and Jesse Jones, to national icons, including the Roosevelts, President Eisenhower, and the Rockefellers. Carleton's chronicle reveals the undeniable impact of the Hobbys on journalistic and political history in the United States.
A history of Houston during the McCarthy era and the community’s response to the fear of communism. Winner of the Texas State Historical Association Coral Horton Tullis Memorial Prize for Best Book on Texas History, this authoritative study of red-baiting in Texas reveals that what began as a coalition against communism became a fierce power struggle between conservative and liberal politics. Praise for Red Scare “A valuable and sometimes engrossing cautionary tale.” —New York Times Book Review “Judicious, well written, and reliable, Red Scare ranks among the top dozen books in the field. . . . A splendid book that deserves the attention of everyone interested in the South and civil liberties.” —American Historical Review “This outstanding study of the McCarthy era in Houston is not only the definitive work on ‘Scoundrel Time’ in that city, but also present in microcosm a brilliant picture of the phenomenon that blighted the entire nation in the 1950s.” —Publishers Weekly “For those who still believe it didn’t happen here—or couldn’t happen again—Don Carleton’s Red Scare is required reading. . . . In fact, anyone who wants to understand modern Texas with all its wild contradictions should begin with Carleton’s massively detailed [book].” —Dallas Morning News “A permanently valuable addition to Texas history and to our understanding of the McCarthy period in the country.” —Texas Observer “Readers can fully experience the agony and terror of this unimaginably ugly period. . . . Red Scare will surely become a standard work on this important subject.” —Southwest Review “An important addition to the history of modern Houston, and . . . of Texas. It is also a fascinating and timely contribution to the subject of extremism in American life.” —Journal of Southern History
After 15 books about somebody else (mostly alter ego Charlie Farquharson), Don Harron now presents the colourful story of his 77-year career in the entertainment business.
Teedie was not exactly the stuff of greatness: he was small for his size. Delicate. Nervous. Timid. By the time he was ten years old, he had a frail body and weak eyes. He was deviled by asthma, tormented by bullies. His favorite place to be was at home. Some might think that because of these things, Teedie was destined for a ho-hum life. But they would be wrong. For teeedie had a strong mind, as well as endless curiosity and determination. Is that all? No. Teedie also had ideas of his own--lots of them. It wasn't long before the world knew him as Theodore Roosevelt, the youngest president of the United States.
In Giant Country Don Graham brings together a collection of lively, absorbing essays written over the past two decades. The collection begins with a twist on book introductions that sets the tone for the essays to come—a self-interview conducted poolside at an eccentric Houston motel favored by regional rock bands. Over piña coladas the author works on his tan and discusses timeless Texas themes: the transition of the state from a rural to an urban world, the sense of a vanishing era, and the way that artists in literature and film represent a state both infectiously grand and too big for its britches. In “Fildelphia Story,” Graham remembers his Ivy League professorial stint in a city the small-town Texan who rented him a moving van looked up under “F.” In “Doing England” the Lone Star Yankee courts Oxford University and returns with a veddy British education. In “The Ground Sense Necessary” a native son journeys inward to explore the dry ceremonies of frontier Protestantism and to recount movingly his father's funeral in Collin County. With his wide-ranging knowledge of classic regional works, Graham unerringly traces the style and substance of local literary giants and offers a sometimes irreverent but always entertaining look at the Texas triumvirate of Dobie, Webb and Bedichek. Other essays look at such Texas greats as Katherine Anne Porter, George Sessions Perry, William Humphrey and John Graves. In a section he calls “Polemics,” Graham includes his best known essays, “Palefaces vs. Redskins,” a sardonic survey of the Texas literary landscape, and “Anything for Larry,” a tour de force that has already become a minor classic. The essay weighs the puny financial achievements of Graham against those of mega-author Larry McMurtry and never fails to bring down the house when Graham gives a public reading. A recognized authority on celluloid Texas, Graham provides a rich sampling of his knowledge of Texas movies in pieces that blanket the territory from moo-cow cattle-drive epics to soggy Alamo sagas to urban cowboy melodramas. In the larger-than-life state that is Texas, nobody sizes up the Lone-Star mythos, its interpreters, boosters and detractors better than Don Graham.
Throughout long profiles and conversations--ranging from 1982 to 2001--the renowned author makes clear his distinctions between historical fact and his own creative leaps
A comprehensive biography of a legendary lieutenant governor. During his five terms as lieutenant governor of Texas, Bill Hobby became one of the most powerful political figures in the state’s history. He was first elected lieutenant governor of Texas in 1972 and served until 1990. Thanks to his brilliance as a political tactician and his personal integrity, Hobby was able to set the Senate’s agenda and garner respect from legislators on both sides of the aisle. In Bill Hobby: A Life in Journalism and Public Service, Don Carleton and Erin Purdy document Hobby’s significant contributions to Texas as a journalist, politician, and philanthropist. Born into a prominent Texas family with a rich legacy of public service, he was the son of Houston newspaper publisher and former Texas governor William P. Hobby Sr., and Oveta Culp Hobby, who led the Women’s Army Corps during World War II and served in Eisenhower’s cabinet. After more than a decade as a journalist for the Houston Post, Hobby forged his own political path while also playing a prominent role in his family’s newspaper and television business. Hobby was never shy about using his power to serve the people of Texas. Even after he left office, he continued to make a difference as a strong advocate for public education, including a term as chancellor of the University of Houston.
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