There are boundless tales to be told about the Lone Star State, and Texas A&M University Press is instrumental in making sure that those stories come to the fore. Choose from this stack of some of the Press’ latest books to add to your reading rotation — from historical to picturesque — meant to enlighten as well as entertain.
Standing Ready: The Golden Era of Texas Aggie Football and the Beginning of the 12th Man Tradition
By John A. Adams
Across America in the wake of World War I, college football entered a time of prominence, often referred to as a “Golden Era.” This same period saw the origins of many beloved traditions of Texas A&M: cadets became known as “Aggies;” the “Aggie War Hymn” penned by J.V. “Pinky” Wilson ’21 was officially adopted; maroon and white emerged as the sanctioned college colors. And in 1922, a lanky Dallas athlete named E.King Gill stepped up and agreed to be the “12th Man” at a football game that may have been the greatest ever played. Today, the 12th Man tradition is one of the most cherished parts of Texas A&M heritage.The 1922 Dixie Classic, precursor to today’s Cotton Bowl, featured a contest between two championship coaches with strong ties to Texas A&M: D. X. Bible, who led the Aggies from 1916 to 1928, and Centre College’s “Uncle Charlie” Moran, who coached at A&M from 1909 to 1914. Historian John A. Adams Jr. ’73 uncovers enthralling details: the pregame conversation between Bible and Gill that helped place Gill in uniform on the sidelines, the wedding celebration involving the Centre College team at the historic Adolphus Hotel the morning before the game, the diagram of the play the Aggies used to score the game-winning touchdown, and so much more. Sports fans and historians, especially those interested in the early days of American football, will savor the rich, previously unknown details surrounding this storied contest between two renowned coaches and their steadfast squads.
136 Pages | Publish date: Dec. 31, 2021
Breaking Away: How the Texas A&M University System Changed the Game
By Tim Gregg
In Breaking Away, author Tim Gregg chronicles the last 10 years of the Texas A&M System. Though A&M’s decision to exit the Big 12 and join the SEC preceded Sharp’s tenure as chancellor, in many ways it foreshadowed the decisive steps that placed theTexas A&M University System at the forefront of multiple initiatives. Sharp’s and theRegents’ leadership set a new course for achievement throughout the System’s institutions and agencies. As Gregg shows, the last 10 years have seen advances in emergency management, research funding, extension work, and other enterprises benefiting not only the university system but the entire state.The book is a highly readable account of a pivotal time. Including a foreword by HenryCisneros, former secretary of housing and urban development, Breaking Away is replete with little-known stories from behind the scenes as well as major developments in the recent history of the System under Chancellor Sharp’s leadership, telling an important story about one of the nation’s leading higher education and public service networks.
256 Pages | Publish date: Dec. 16, 2021
Sul Ross at Texas A&M
By John A. Adams
In Sul Ross at Texas A&M, John A. Adams Jr., chronicler of Texas A&M University history, presents an in-depth examination of Ross’ life as a college president. Adams shows how by the late 1880s, the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas was on the brink of collapse. Student discontent, administrative mismanagement, and faculty factionalism threatened the continued existence of the fledgling school. The college’s board of directors were desperate and offered the presidency to Ross.Adams details the steps Ross took to bring order out of chaos, expanding and modernizing the college and leading the school’s finances out of the red. Many Aggie traditions first took shape during Ross’ tenure: the class ring, the band, and even the school’s first intercollegiate football game against the University of Texas. Ross’ years at the helm were transformative. Fans of Texas A&M and Texas history will be enthralled by this captivating account of Sul Ross’s time as the institution’s president.
256 Pages | Publish date: Nov. 30, 2021
Viva Texas Rivers!: Adventures, Misadventures, and Glimpses of Nirvana along Our Storied Waterways
Edited by Steven L. Davis and Sam L. Pfiester
More than the lifeblood of our natural world, Texas rivers have nourished the human spirit for as long as people have gathered on their banks. A living bond has flowed between Texas writers and rivers ever since the 1960 publication of John Graves’s classic journey along the Brazos, Goodbye to a River. Many of Texas’ leading writers have had their hearts captured by a river, and they have created sparkling accounts of the waterways they love. Now, editors Steven L. Davis and Sam L. Pfiester have assembled the best of those works into a revelatory collection of diverse literary voices.Authoritative and expertly edited, Viva Texas Rivers! offers shimmering accounts of hidden paradises, as well as searing exposés of abuse and despoliation. Yet even in the bleakest times, as these writers have found, Texas rivers can bestow a sacred grace —and unexpected redemption. Viva Texas Rivers! brings you as close to the living nirvana of aTexas River as you can get without launching yourself into a canoe and following a great blue heron as it glides just above the breaking rapids, leading you around the bend as the river flows onward toward the best places in our hearts.
256 pages | Publish date: Feb. 11, 2022
Making Space for Women: Stories from Trailblazing Women of NASA’s Johnson Space Center
By Jennifer M. Ross-Nazzal
From the creation of the Manned Spacecraft Center to the launching of theInternational Space Station and beyond, Making Space for Women explores how careers for women at Johnson Space Center have changed over the past 50 years as the workforce became more diverse and fields once closed to women—the astronaut corps and flight control—began to open. Jennifer M. Ross-Nazzal has selected 21 interviews conducted for the NASA Oral History Projects, including those with astronauts, mathematicians, engineers, secretaries, scientists, trainers, managers, and more. The women featured not only discuss leadership, teamwork, and the experiences of being“the first,” but reveal how the role of the working woman in a predominantly white, male, technical agency has evolved. Making Space for Women offers a unique view of the history of human spaceflight while also providing a broader understanding of changes in American culture, society, industry, and life for women in the space program. The women featured in this book demonstrate that there are no boundaries or limits to a career at NASA for those who choose to seize the opportunity.
464 pages | Publish date: Jan. 17, 2022
Wild Focus: Twenty-five Years of Texas Parks & Wildlife Photography
By Earl Nottingham
In Wild Focus, Earl Nottingham, chief photographer for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and its magazine, provides a unique perspective on Texas featuring images of the woods, waters, and wildlife of the Lone Star landscape. Nottingham’s engaging photography—landscape, nature, and wildlife; environmental portraiture of people; photojournalistic coverage of events, including natural disasters—provides a cohesive overview of biodiversity and the state of conservation in Texas.Cultural and historic sites are included along with environmental portraits of the people associated with those sites. From the state’s wildlife, both great and small, to nature shown in not only its beauty but also its fury—wildfires, hurricanes, and floods—Earl Nottingham offers a visual compendium of events, people, places, and things that have shaped the face of natural Texas. The author logged untold miles and wore through many sets of tires to offer timely stories that would “inform, educate, entertain, and empower” readers about the outdoors. These images that capture the richness and diversity of wild Texas inspire a greater appreciation for the state’s beauty and promote a sense of stewardship for its natural treasures.
224 Pages | Publish date: Dec. 6, 2021
About TAMU Press
Founded in 1974, Texas A&M University Press is the book publishing arm of one of the nation’s leading research and land grant institutions. Throughout its history, the Press has enjoyed strong support from the University and the entire Texas A&M community, and that support has been essential to the Press’s growth and success.Texas A&M University Press publishes 50 to 60 new titles a year, and they include both works of science and scholarship and books that educate and entertain the general reader. All books are published simultaneously in print and ebook editions and sold all over the world. Texas A&M University Press has won more than 500 book awards, including major scholarly awards in all fields in which we publish; all major Texas book awards; and nationally prestigious awards from Garden Writers Association, National Outdoor Book Awards, American Library Association Best of the Best, National Cowboy Hall of Fame, National Book Foundation, Western Writers of America, PEN American Center, Army Historical Foundation, and many others. Additionally, through the Texas Book Consortium, TAMU Press markets and distributes titles published by eight other publishers in the region: TCU Press, the University of North Texas Press, Texas State Historical Association Press, Texas Review Press at Sam Houston State University, State House Press, Stephen F. Austin State University Press, Winedale Publishing, Shearer Publishing, and Stoney Creek Publishing. Both TAMU Press’ own inventory and distributed books from the Consortium members are housed in the John H. Lindsey Building on the Texas A&M campus, which also provides office and meeting space for TAMU Press’ staff of 23 employees and is the home of the Frank H. Wardlaw Collection of Texas Art.
For more information, visit tamupress.com or call 1-800-826-8911.
Read Six recent publications by TAMU Press in Spanish here.
