Sheer Will: The Story of the Port of Houston and the Houston Ship Channel

by David H. Falloure

Sheer Will gives you the story behind the story; not just the facts but the flavor, characters, context and global forces at work that would turn a tangled patch of sleepy bayou into one of the world’s most powerful and strategically critical industrial engines. Mr. Falloure walks you through it all from vision to victories, celebrations to setbacks, with no holds barred. And all with a passion for Texas and American history that’s absolutely contagious.

140 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 2014

About the author

Falloure writes about history and Texas. His latest work is Counterclockwise—a suspense thriller set primarily in 1942 Houston, but his nonfiction work includes Brands in History, the hard copy book based on his long-running blog; Deep Water: The Story of Beaumont and its Port; The Houston Ship Channel: Open to the World; and Sheer Will: The Story of the Port of Houston and the Houston Ship Channel. Those are long titles but they are long stories, and good ones, too. If you’re the YouTube type, catch Falloure in the award-winning documentary, the Houston Ship Channel: Deep Water Centennial.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the kind of history book I need to read more of. Mostly I read books about the history of countries but this one is a much more specialized topic and arguably has more impact on the lives of the average American than the history of North Korea or Chile ever will.

The writing was fast paced and really kept the story moving giving the book more of an overview feel than an in depth study feel. The book didn't dwell on the details of how the Houston port was actually constructed or the political wrangling that brought federal dollars to Houston. Would've been interesting but would've slowed the story down as well.

Its little pieces of Americana like this that I really enjoy. Nice to have more insight into how our country was built.