Consortium Book Blog

Bound in Twine wins agricultural history award

Bound in Twine by Sterling Evans has received the 2007 Theodore Saloutos Memorial Award for the best book on agricultural history from the Agricultural History Society. The society will honor Evans at a luncheon at the Organization of American Historians Conference tentatively schedule for Saturday March 28, 2009, in Seattle, Washington.

Before the invention of the combine, the binder was an essential harvesting implement that cut grain and bound the stalks in bundles tied with twine that could then be hand-gathered into shocks for threshing. Hundreds of thousands of farmers across the United States and Canada relied on binders and the twine required for the machine's operation. Implement manufacturers discovered that the best binder twine was made from henequen and sisal—spiny, fibrous plants native to the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.

Bound in Twine analyzes the international dependencies among Canada, the U.S., and Mexico created by the growth, manufacturing, and use of binder twine between 1880 and 1950, or what Evans terms the henequen-wheat complex.

To read more about this book, visit:
http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2007/evans.htm

Salt Warriors "gives crisp account of nearly forgotten West Texas war"

Salt Warriors, by Paul Cool, was recently reviewed favorably in the Houston Chronicle.

Read the review here:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/books/reviews/5834198.html

The El Paso Salt War of 1877 has gone down in history as the spontaneous "action of a mindless rabble," but as author Paul Cool deftly demonstrates, the episode was actually an insurgency, "the product of a deliberate, community-based decision squarely in the tradition of the American nation's original fight for self-government."

Read more about the book here:
http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2008/cool.htm

Shadow and Stinger Wins Futrell Award for Excellence

Shadow and Stinger: Developing the AC-119G/K Gunships in the Vietnam War by William Head has received the 2008 Frank Futrell Award for Excellence in Historical Publications from the United States Air Force History and Museum Program.

The book focuses on the gunship's impact on the Vietnamese and later the American forces against enemy ground forces, among other parts of the gunship's history. 

"I think the greatest honor is in fact that it's named after Frank Futrell who was truly one of the pioneers of Air Force history and a real gentleman," Head said.

For more information on this book, visit http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2007/head.htm

Testing American Sea Power Receives Honorable Mention

Testing American Sea Power: U.S. Navy Strategic Exercises, 1923–1940, by Craig C. Felker, received an Honorable Mention for the 2007 Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize. The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute awards the prize annually in cooperation with the Theodore Roosevelt Association and the New York Council Navy League of the United States. The awards were presented at the annual Roosevelt Naval History Prize Luncheon on June 5, 2008 at the New York Athletic Club.

For more information on this book, visit http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2007/felker.htm

Texas Music History on a Radio Near You

Gary Hartman, author of The History of Texas Music is involved in a new radio program entitled "This Week in Texas Music History." The 90-second show airs each Monday morning on Austin's KUT 90.5 FM during NPR's Morning Edition at 6:33 a.m. and 8:33 a.m. Hartman expects many other NPR affiliate stations across the state to pick up the show and begin broadcasting it on a weekly basis. Hartman, who writes and hosts the show, is considered one of the nation's pre-eminent scholars on the subject of Texas music.
"'This Week in Texas Music History' has had a very positive response from audiences," Hartman said. "Some listeners have compared it to Garrison Keillor's nationally popular 'Writer's Almanac.'".
To read more about Hartman's book, visit http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2008/hartman.htm

Review of The Country Houses of John F. Staub

"Stephen Fox knows more about Houston than anyone knows about any other American megalopolis. Among historians, he is legend. . . . Richard Cheek, one of the premier architectural photographers of his generation, knows how to highlight both formal and sensuous qualities of buldings. His magnificent color photos bring out qualities of Staub's work that would go unnoticed in standard monographic studies. . . . THE COUNTRY HOUSES OF JOHN F. STAUB . . . stands well out from the crowd. Fox and Cheek have created . . . one of the most beautiful architecture books of the year."—The Architect's Newspaper, 4/16/08

"Capturing Nature" to be featured on The Martha Stewart Show

Capturing Nature
The Cement Sculpture of Dionicio Rodríguez

In the world of Dionicio Rodríguez a tree may not be a tree, and a rock may not be a rock. His imaginative reinforced concrete sculptures that imitate the natural forms and textures of trees and rocks can be found in eight states, and many pieces still exist in San Antonio.

However, like so many artisans of his time, much of his work has fallen into obscurity or disrepair. Author Patsy Pittman Light has devoted a decade to documenting the trabajo rústico ("rustic work") of Rodríguez, and here presents a book that both elegantly displays and thoroughly describes his life, his work, and his legacy. With stunning photographs and excellent documentation of this artist's influences and those he influenced, Capturing Nature will capture the attention of a range of people who appreciate art.

Patsy Pittman Light will appear on "The Martha Stewart Show" to discuss Rodríguez's work and the book on March 14 and 17 in some Texas markets. Please check your local listings for time and station. Visit http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2008/light.htm for more details on the book.

Viewing Exotic Animals in Your State

As spring arrives and wanderlust sets in, make taking advantage of beautiful days a little easier by keeping a list on hand of places to visit and things to see.

A fun item for your list could be spotting the exotic animals living in your state, and the award-winning book Exotic Animal Field Guide can help you plan your day trip.

From axis deer to zebra, an estimated 230,000 or more foreign hoofed mammals live in the United States. These "exotics"—animals native to other places—can be found in Texas, Florida, New Mexico, Maryland, California, New Hampshire, Hawaii, and other states on ranches, in wildlife preserves, at safari parks, and sometimes just behind high fences or on a mountainside along the byroads of America.

Author Elizabeth Cary Mungall explains how these species got here, tells where people can go to view them, and gives a few simple guidelines for responsible ownership.

Exotic Animal Field Guide was recently named a winner of the 2007 Publication Award for Outstanding Authored Book by the Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society.

To read more about the book and start planning your trip, visit http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2007/mungall.htm

McCain, Obama, and Clinton and the American Campaign

As the remaining presidential hopefuls maneuver and position themselves to get their parties' nominations, campaign strategy becomes increasingly important.

The past week has seen John McCain all but shore up the Republican nomination while Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton continue to go head to head for the Democratic nomination.

Regardless of your political persuasion or preference of a presidential candidate, much can be learned by  taking a closer look at what James E. Campbell calls the "theory of the predictable campaign," which incorporates the fundamental conditions that systematically affect the presidential vote: political competition, presidential incumbency, and election-year economic conditions.

In The American Campaign: U.S. Presidential Campaigns and the National Vote (Second Edition), Campbell includes updated data and predicting trends through the 2008 campaign, presenting a
readable survey of presidential elections and political scientists' ways of studying them.

To read more about the book, visit http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2007/campbell.htm

TAMU Press author to appear in BBC documentary

Tom Hargrove, author of Long March to Freedom, is participating in a documentary for the popular BBC television series The Reunion. The show will reunite Hargrove and members of the team who secured his release from Columbian narco-terrorists who kidnapped him in 1994. The air date is forthcoming.

To read more about the book Long March to Freedom click here.
http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2007/hargrove.htm