Books about Texas and the Texans

Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans written by T. R. Fehrenbach and published by Collier Books, New York, 1986.

[For the Texas history aspect, this book is my all-time favorite and the one I most use as a reference. With this book, I recommend you read the chapters, which apply to the time periods, which affect the Texas Czechs. Use this book in conjunction with a more specific book such as Krásná America. Be warned though, Texas History buffs tell me that this text is becoming dated based on newly uncovered information.]

German Seed in Texas Soil Immigrant Farmers in Nineteenth-Century Texas  by Terry G. Jordan, and published by University of Texas Press, Austin, 1994.

 [This book presents a detailed study of the Germans in Texas. It also includes strong information on settlement patterns in Texas. Since this book you may want to check out at a library first for it is so specific to the Germans.]

The First Polish Americans: Silesian Settlements in Texas by T. Lindsay Baker and published by Texas A & M University Press, College Station, 1979.

 [For a vivid look of very similar circumstances of the peasant class, I highly recommend this book. Although Silesia was under Prussian rule at that time, the freeing of the serfs, separation from the manor, the revolutions of 1848, and the pressures of "Germanization" are very much the same there as for the Moravians just across the border. The book First Polish Americans presents a tight, fact- filled first few chapters. You might check it out at a library for a first reading.]

Indianola and Matagorda Island: A Local History and Visitor's Guide for a Lost Seaport and a Barrier Island on the Texas Gulf Coast by Linda Wolff and published by Eakin Press, Austin, Texas, 1999.

[Indianola was the primary port for the German immigrants. For much of the 1800's, European immigrants continued to travel through Indianola after their initial arrival at another port. This book provided historical information on this important point of dispersal.]

 

 

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