Single Star of the West: The Republic of Texas, 1836-1845

2017 Book of the Year, Alamo Society

Does Texas’s experience as a republic make it unique among the other states? In many ways, Texas was an “accidental republic” for nearly ten years, until Texans voted overwhelmingly in favor of annexation to the United States after winning independence from Mexico.

Single Star of the West begins with the Texas Revolution and examines the emergence of a Texas identity. Next, several contributors discuss how the Republic was defended by its army, navy, and the Texas Rangers. Individual chapters focus on the early founders of Texas—Sam Houston, Mirabeau B. Lamar, and Anson Jones. Texas’s efforts at diplomacy, and persistence and transformation in its economy, also receive careful analysis. Finally, social and cultural aspects of the Texas Republic receive coverage, with discussions of women, American Indians, African Americans, Tejanos, and religion.

Kenneth W. Howell was born in Athens, Texas, and raised in the small East Texas town of Malakoff, Texas. He received his Ph. D. in History from Texas A&M University in 2005; M. A. in History from Texas A&M University-Commerce in 1996; and B. S. in History from the University of Texas at Tyler in 1992. Dr. Howell resides in College Station, Texas. He has served as a full-time Professor of History at Blinn College since the fall of 2014. Howell specializes in nineteenth-century U.S. history, but the majority of his research and publications are related to the Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras.

Charles Swanlund worked in the sports and entertainment industries before turning to academia. He received an M.A. from Sam Houston State University. He has taught at Sam Houston State and Blinn College-Bryan, from where he recently retired. He has published numerous articles in scholarly journals and is co-editor and contributor to Single Star of the West: The Republic of Texas, 1836-1845 and A Lone Star Reader.