Books published by publisher Texas Tech University Press

While the history of São Paulo dates back more than 450 years, most of its growth took place after World War II as the city’s major economic engine shifted from agriculture to industry. Today, as São Paulo evolves into a service economy hub, Felipe Correa argues, the city must carefully examine how to better integrate its extensive inner city post-industrial land into contemporary urban uses. In São Paulo: A Graphic Biography, Correa presents a comprehensive portrait of Brazil’s largest city, narrating its fast-paced growth through archival material, photography, original drawings, and text. Additional essays from scholars in fields such as landscape architecture, ecology, governance, and public health offer a series of interdisciplinary perspectives on the city’s history and development.Beyond presenting the first history of Paulista urban form and carefully detailing the formative processes that gave shape to this manufacturing capital, São Paulo shows how the city can transform its post-industrial lands into a series of inner city mixed-use affordable housing districts. By reorienting how we think about these spaces, the volume offers a compelling vision of a much-needed urban restructuring that can help alleviate the extreme socioeconomic divide between city center and periphery. This twenty-first century urban blueprint thus constitutes an impressive work of research and presents a unique perspective on how cities can imagine their future.

Freddie Steinmark started at safety for the undefeated University of Texas Longhorns in 1969. In the thrilling “Game of the Century,” a come-from-behind victory against Arkansas that ensured Texas the national championship, Steinmark played with pain in his left leg. Two days later, X-rays revealed a bone tumor so large that it seemed a miracle Steinmark could walk, let alone play football. Within a week of the Arkansas game, his leg was amputated.A gritty, undersized player, Steinmark had quickly become a fan favorite at Texas. What he endured during the Longhorns’ memorable 1969 season, and what he encountered afterward, captivated not only Texans but the country at large. Americans watched closely as Steinmark confronted life’s ultimate challenge, and his openness during his battle against savage odds helped reframe the national conversation surrounding cancer and the ongoing race for a cure.Written with unfettered access to the Steinmark family and archives, Freddie Steinmark: Faith, Family, Football is the exploration of a brief but full life, one that began humbly but ended on a grand stage. It is a fitting tribute to a legendary Longhorn whose photograph, emblazoned with the word “Heart,” flashes on the Freddie Steinmark Scoreboard’s Jumbotron prior to each home football game in UT’s Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium at Joe Jamail Field.

The Moluccas Islands; the invasions of Leyte, Mindoro, and Luzon; Iwo Jima; Okinawa—these and other important naval actions of World War II are vividly recounted by an enlisted sailor and former journalist, Orvill Raines, in poignant and graphic letters to his wife.The story of the young sailor and his shipmates aboard the destroyer Howorth, serving in the Pacific in 1944 and 1945, comes alive in Good Night Officially, first published in 1994. Edited and introduced by historian William M. McBride, the letters tell of the routine and boredom, fear and bravery of those who reclaimed the Pacific for the United States and its allies. They also tell a sweet and sad story of the love of Raines for his wife—sad, because Raines, posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, was killed in an air attack on April 6, 1945. This volume bears testament to the sacrifice and victory of Raines and his fellow “bluejackets.”

In the 1950s, West Texas suffered the longest drought in the memory of most men then living. By that time, Charlie Flagg, the central character of this novel, was one of a dying breed of men who wrested their living from the harsh land of West Texas. The struggle made them fiercely independent, a trait personified in Charlie’s persistence throughout the seven dry years, his refusal to accept defeat, his opposition to federal aid programs and their inevitable bureaucratic regulations, his determination to stay on the land he loves and respects even as he suffers with that land. Charlie is by no means the typical cowboy hero. Self-sufficient, courageous, with a strong sense of right and wrong, he is also old and overweight, a thoroughly believable human being who has trouble communicating with the wife who loyally struggles to keep life in its pattern, the son who has no feel for the land but yearns for the rodeo circuit, the Mexican family who has worked for him for years and whose help he can no longer afford. Although Charlie never loses his dignity and never quits, he does not win out in the end. When the drought breaks, it has lasted too long and he is too old.There is no surprise ending to this story, no magical solution to the harsh realities of life in West Texas. The reading of this novel lies not in what happens next but in the unfolding depth of a strong character and the clear picture of a time and a place.

Lucy Pier Stevens, a twenty-one-year-old woman from Ohio, began a visit to her aunt's family near Bellville, Texas, on Christmas Day, 1859. Little did she know how drastically her life would change on April 4, 1861, when the outbreak of the Civil War made returning home impossible. Stranded in enemy territory for the duration of the war, how would she reconcile her Northern upbringing with the Southern sentiments surrounding her?Lucy Stevens's diary—one of few women's diaries from Civil War–era Texas and the only one written by a Northerner—offers a unique perspective on daily life at the fringes of America's bloodiest conflict. An articulate, educated, and keen observer, Stevens took note of seemingly everything—the weather, illnesses, food shortages, parties, church attendance, chores, schools, childbirth, death, the family's slaves, and political and military news. As she confided her private thoughts to her journal, she unwittingly revealed how her love for her Texas family and the Confederate soldier boys she came to care for blurred her loyalties, even as she continued to long for her home in Ohio. Showing how the ties of heritage, kinship, friendship, and community transcended the sharpest division in US history, this rare diary and Vicki Adams Tongate's insightful historical commentary on it provide a trove of information on women's history, Texas history, and Civil War history.

In 1899, the United Fruit Company (UFCO) was officially incorporated in Boston, Massachusetts, beginning an era of economic, diplomatic, and military interventions in Central America. This event marked the inception of the struggle for economic, political, and cultural autonomy in Central America as well as an era of homegrown inequities, injustices, and impunities to which Central Americans have responded in creative and critical ways. This juncture also set the conditions for the creation of the Transisthmus—a material, cultural, and symbolic site of vast intersections of people, products, and narratives.Taking 1899 as her point of departure, Ana Patricia Rodríguez offers a comprehensive, comparative, and meticulously researched book covering more than one hundred years, between 1899 and 2007, of modern cultural and literary production and modern empire-building in Central America. She examines the grand narratives of (anti)imperialism, revolution, subalternity, globalization, impunity, transnational migration, and diaspora, as well as other discursive, historical, and material configurations of the region beyond its geophysical and political confines.Focusing in particular on how the material productions and symbolic tropes of cacao, coffee, indigo, bananas, canals, waste, and transmigrant labor have shaped the transisthmian cultural and literary imaginaries, Rodríguez develops new methodological approaches for studying cultural production in Central America and its diasporas.Monumental in scope and relentlessly impassioned, this work offers new critical readings of Central American narratives and contributes to the growing field of Central American studies.

It’s spring of 1878 on the Rockin’ W, and Hallie Lou Wells is as cross as any fourteen-year-old redhead has a right to be. Roundup is over; Hallie’s father will soon drive the cattle to Dodge City—and only boys are allowed! But in country where anything can happen, something does. When Mr. Wells learns that Mrs. Wells is having another baby, he decides to stay home. Hallie persuades him to let her take his place on the drive.Hallie’s Chisholm Trail diary, rich with depictions of ranch and trail life, is filled with adventures to engage any preteen reader, girl or boy. Following Hallie’s diary is a historic summary of life along the Chisholm Trail in 1878, complete with photographs and map, useful to young readers and teachers alike.

The exciting tale of a young Mexican-American man who came of age during the formative years of Texas history In 1839, José Policarpo Rodriguez came north with his father from Zaragosa, Mexico, to the Republic of Texas. Poli was ten years old when he arrived in Texas, and he and his father settled in the Hill Country near San Antonio. Poli grew up with Comanches, surveyed territory for the Republic of Texas and the United States Army, fought against warring Indians, and mapped settlements for nineteenth-century German settlers in Texas. He was the first non-Indian to discover the Big Bend Country and Cascades Caverns, and during the Mexican-American War and the Civil War, he was Captain of the San Antonio Home Guard. Caught between the three main elements that made up early Texas—Mexicans, Indians, and Anglos—he struggled to decide where his true loyalties lay, and his decisions showed a kind of courage that was rare in those days. . .and is still rare today.

Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low and Lou Henry Hoover, first president of Girl Scouts, are two of seven paper dolls featured in this, the first of a three-part paper doll history of Girl Scout uniforms.Melissa, who joins Low's first troop in Savannah, and her younger cousin Erin tell the story of the early years of scouting, 1912–28, through their diary entries. They write of troop activities as well as the growing Girl Scout movement nationwide, and they give us a glimpse into the everyday life of young girls during that time period.Twelve uniforms and a variety of other historic fashions are detailed in full color. Each uniform is complete with accessories, pins, awards, and badges. This is the first paper doll book to show the uniforms in full color, making it an important addition to the printed history of the Girl Scouts.November 1918It's just the best news imaginable—the Armistice has been signed and the war is officially over at last! Miss Daisy is so proud of all the work her Girl Scouts have done across the nation to help the war effort. As soon as the War Service Award was introduced in our Girl Scout Magazine, The Rally, last March, many, many girls began working to earn the points necessary to receive the award. The girls in our patrol have knitted items to give to the Red Cross (we were amazed when we realized just how much time and effort is required to knit up two pounds of wool, but as we imagined our own brothers sitting in France with cold, wet feet, our needles began flying faster and faster), and several managed to preserve the required 50 containers of jelly or jam this past summer. Georgia peaches make THE BEST!

Nick is on a mission. Deeply troubled by the loss of a young friend at the Battle of San Jacinto, he wants desperately to return to the scene of the battle—to alter history. But when he furtively opens the mysterious trunk, now in Mr. Barrington’s attic, he is transported instead to Gonzales, Texas, in 1835. There he meets many historical characters, including the young Alamo defenders William King, John Gaston, and Galba Fuqua. (Will, Johnny, and Galba are introduced in Book 1 of the series.) Once befriended by them, Nick finds himself caught up in the excitement leading up to the Battle of Gonzales.Hannah and Jackie, knowing they must stop Nick and bring him back safely, follow by trunk in hot pursuit. After falling down a riverbank, Hannah is rescued by Lieutenant Ramirez, a member of the Alamo de Parras Company of dragoons sent to retrieve the Gonzales “Come and Take It” cannon. The girls are escorted to his camp, where they learn about life in the Mexican army and the tensions that are building in Texas.

Central America is a fascinating evolutionary artifact. Three million years ago, the Panama land bridge emerged as a link between what is now North and South America, and as flora and fauna traversed this great bridge between worlds, they cross-fertilized extensively and one of the Earth's most rich and varied environments developed. The Monkey's Bridge is the story of this extraordinary environment. The culmination of ten years of research and travel, the book combines a vibrant travelogue with personal insights on the landscapes, cultures, and ecosystems of Central America. David Rains Wallace creates an astounding portrait of a captivating part of the world.

“Pedro is very poor.”“Yes, I can tell by the clothes he wears.”I was mad because somehow the way they were whispering, it sounded like being poor was something very terrible.Meet six-year-old Pedrito, who lives on a South Texas farm with his mother, father, and younger sister. The year is 1941, and except for a trip to the big city of San Antonio, five hours away, Pedrito’s life is the farm and the school he attends in a village a few miles away. Pedrito’s father has the papers he needs to work legally in the United States, but that doesn’t stop the Border Patrol from harassing him and his son. Pedrito speaks only Spanish and is frightened on his first day of school when he learns that he must speak English. Luckily his teacher, Miss García, is patient with her students, and soon Pedrito is sharing his new English words with his family. Pedrito also relates his opinion of outhouses vs. indoor plumbing and tells of a happy Easter decorating cascarones. Pedrito’s World is a wonderful window on the lives and culture of a Mexican family living and working in South Texas.Arturo O. Martínez based Pedrito’s World on his own South Texas childhood. He lives in Hoboken, New Jersey.