Houston: The Unknown City, 1836-1946

Uh, these reviews are really hard on this book, I mean get real, of course this book focuses on the powerful in Houston at the time and their impact on the city, it's a history of Houston's rise, people, not The Grapes of Wrath. I for one enjoyed this book, I found the history very interesting and got a real feel for why Houston has emerged at the dawn of the 21st Century as an economic jugernaut, this has always been a city of entrepenuers and alpha males...and alpha females for that matter, and that spirit enfuses the city to this day. I mean who would have thought a city founded on the edge of a mosquito infested big ditch, miles inland from the Gulf, would become one of the great world ports and the energy capitol of the world? Read this book and you get your answer.

I found this book to be full of rich history. It helped me to understand not only the evolution of an oil town, but to relate to American history in a more detailed way.

In an academic style, Margurite Johnson leads us through a description of Houston as a small Gulf Coast community to a thriving Port City backed by the oil investment. She does a great deal to enrich the readers knowledge of Texas metropolitan outlook on it's relationship to it's environment. It serves as a good primer for further research.