|
Certainly a trained writer could write an interesting history of any one of our 50 states. Each of them has a story to tell --- but for sheer wildness and weirdness it would be hard to surpass the history of Texas. Perhaps only a Texan could do it justice.
James L. Haley is a Texas native, a respected historian with six or seven books on Texas subjects already on the shelves, and a lively writer. He also brings a definite personal point of view to his task. In PASSIONATE NATION you can always tell the good guys from the bad guys. Haley also has a gift for deft one-liner characterization that brings even minor players in his crowded historical saga to life for the reader.
The state's character, in Haley's view, has been formed by violence, gunplay and bloodshed, by cattle, cotton and oil, by bold exploration, racial and religious intolerance, political feuding and frontier adventurousness. Texas has been suspicious of immigrants who did not share its conservative values, wary of dictation from far-off Washington D.C. and delighted these days to find its vigorous extroverted ethos taking over the whole United States. In that respect it is, Haley contends, the new California.
Haley paces his narrative well, avoiding the common error of skimping on early history in order to get quickly to recent times more likely to be of interest to his readers. He is thorough in recounting the deeds of early adventurers like Coronado, Narvaez, LaSalle and Da Gama, and the Civil War does not come along until halfway through his text. His account of the state's decade as an independent republic (1836-1845) is especially delicious, verging several times on high comedy as the colorful figures of that era get themselves into strange and wonderful predicaments over trifles (e.g., the Presidential inaugural ball of 1844, held in a room above a saloon, during which one young lady had to be rescued when she nearly fell through the sagging floor into the bar below).
Haley also devotes long mid-book stretches to the Indian wars that convulsed Texas for many years. These complex affairs may not much interest modern readers, but they are important to the story of how modern Texas evolved and they clearly demonstrate the state's love affair with guns and indiscriminate butchery of those who stand in the way of "civilization."
Two of the state's greatest historical figures, Sam Houston and Stephen Austin, emerge as fully-rounded figures in Haley's story. Austin was a thoughtful, fair-minded statesman who never really fit the Texas mold; Houston was a heavy drinker whose backing for the idea of joining the Republic of Texas to the United States was later balanced by staunch Union sympathies in a state that enthusiastically joined the Confederacy when civil war finally erupted after annexation.
The book has one major fault, for which Haley may not be responsible: It is, if anything, too Texas-centric. This fascinating history should surely be of interest to Americans everywhere, but there is not a single map in it, and the reader with only a general idea of Texas geography will find himself lost among those vast plains and the numerous rivers that define both Texas history and cultural identity. Even the author's promotional tour is restricted to Texas cities --- surely a missed opportunity.
Haley sees today's Texas as a natural outgrowth of its violent past, with such matters as Anglo-Hispanic racial tensions and the future of the oil industry very much in play. He forecasts that before long Hispanics will regain their former status as the state's majority racial group, but makes no prediction on how this will be dealt with by the power structure. Haley has been outspoken and judgmental throughout the book, branding those of whom he disapproves "oafs" and "asses," but on this intriguing question he can only muse that Texans "have never done well with pluralism."
--- Reviewed by Robert Finn (Robertfinn@aol.com)
 Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.
© Copyright 1996-2009, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
Back to top.
|
