Seven Keys to Texas by T. R. Fehrenbach

by T.R. Fehrenbach

T.R. Fehrenbach defines Texas as "a state of mind." In The Seven Keys To Texas, he provides us with a seven-part framework for understanding this unique and ever-important its people, frontiers, land, economy, society, politics, and the change that has taken place and continues as Texas grows and develops. A must read for those who want to better understand Texas or create a vision for its future.

Genres: History

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Theodore Reed Fehrenbach, Jr. was an American historian, columnist, and the former head of the Texas Historical Commission (1987-1991). He graduated from Princeton University in 1947, and had published more than twenty books, including the best seller Lone Star: A History of Texas and Texans and This Kind of War, about the Korean War.

Although he served as a U.S. Army officer during the Korean War, his own service is not mentioned in the book. Fehrenbach also wrote for Esquire, The Atlantic, The Saturday Evening Post, and The New Republic. He was known as an authority on Texas, Mexico, and the Comanche people. For almost 30 years, he wrote a weekly column on Sundays for the San Antonio Express-News. T.R. Fehrenbach was 88 years old at the time of his death.

Reviews

[Ben Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fehrenbach is in my top 5 favorite authors, so I was a little bummed that he wasn’t at the top of his game here. I actually think he selected these seven “keys” quite well, but the book’s conceit— that it’s an easy 150 page read to help you understand Texans— works against it.

The biggest problem was simply that he didn’t have enough space, or at least enough bandwidth from the presumed out-of-state reader to justify needed digressions on Texas history. Time and time again, Fehrenbach was forced to skim over key events or presume knowledge in order to make his point, and it would have been better if he had just committed to more detail. However, if he did, the casual reader probably wouldn’t make it through it.

As a Fehrenbach fan and as someone who adores his history of Texas, I felt well equipped to understand his arguments and explanations, and I was happy to hear him address Texan identity directly, rather than as short asides in his other work. Nevertheless, the book doesn’t totally work as a whole. If you’re willing to do some googling, though, then this is a worthwhile guide to understanding native Texans, even 40 years after it was written.

My real recommendation is just go and read Lone Star!

[Jeff Schrage · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book 3 stars because it is now 30 years old. It does provide great insight into why Texans are Texans, a uniquely proud people that value hard-work and results. Understanding the difficult times of the frontier life and the shifts in the economy helps put things in perspective. Texans are Americans but are Texans first and foremost. But, they are pragmatic people who tentatively accept the hard-working, entrepreneur individual regardless of their ethnicity and beliefs. While this is true, assimilation to the Texan-American culture is expected and will aid in acceptance for newcomers. In a nut shell, work hard for yours and you will fit in Texas.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a geo-social discussion of the State of Texas. It helped to explain how Texas came to be what it is today, but the commentary is not real recent. Still a good read.