Second Place, Presidio La Bahia Award, Sons of the Republic of TexasThe Gulf Coast has been a principal place of entry into Texas ever since Alonso Alvarez de Pineda explored these shores in 1519. Yet, nearly five hundred years later, the maritime history of Texas remains largely untold. In this book, Richard V. Francaviglia offers a comprehensive overview of Texas' merchant and military marine history, drawn from his own extensive collection of maritime history materials, as well as from research in libraries and museums around the country.Based on recent discoveries in nautical archaeology, Francaviglia tells the stories of the Spanish flotilla that wrecked off Padre Island in 1554 and of La Salle's flagship Belle, which sank in 1687. He explores the role of the Texas Navy in the Texas Revolution of 1835-1836 and during the years of the Texas Republic and also describes the Civil War battles at Galveston and Sabine Pass. Finally, he recounts major developments of the nineteenth century, concluding with the disastrous Galveston Hurricane in 1900. More than one hundred illustrations, many never before published, complement the text.

This important volume addresses a number of central topics concerning how history is depicted in film. In the preface, the volume editors emphasize the importance of using film in teaching history: students will see historical films, and if they are not taught critical viewing, they will be inclined simply to accept what they see as fact. Authors of the individual chapters then explore the portrayal of history - and the uses of history - in specific films and film genres. Robert Rosenstone's ""In Praise of the Biopic"" considers such films as ""Reds"", ""They Died with Their Boots On"", ""Little Big Man"", ""Seabiscuit"", ""Cinderella Man"", and ""The Grapes of Wrath"". In his chapter, Geoff Pingree focuses on the big questions posed in Jay Rosenblatt's 1998 film ""Human Remains"". Richard Francaviglia's chapter on films about the Middle East is especially timely in the post-9/11 world. One chapter, by Daniel A. Nathan, Peter Berg, and Erin Klemyk, is devoted to a single film: Martin Scorsese's urban history ""The Gangs of New York"", which the authors see as a way of exploring complex themes of the immigrant experience. Finally, Robert Brent Toplin addresses the paradox of using an art form (film) to present history. Among other themes, he considers the impact of Patton and Platoon on military decisions and interpretations, and of Birth of a Nation and Glory on race relations. The cumulative effect is to increase the reader's understanding of the medium of film in portraying history and to stimulate the imagination as to how it can and how it should not be used. Students and teachers of history and cinema will benefit deeply from this informative and thoughtful discussion.

Like the rosary itself, the influence of Catholicism on the social and historical development of the American West has been both visible and hidden: visible in the effects of personal conviction on lives and communities; hidden in that the fuller context of this important American religious group has been largely marginalized or undervalued in traditional historiographic treatments of the region. This volume, an outgrowth of the 2004 Walter Prescott Webb Memorial Lectures, seeks to redress this imbalance. Editors Roberto R. Trevino and Richard Francaviglia have assembled here a variety of scholarly voices to present, according to the preface, ""little-known stories about a religion whose traditions and adherents had until recently remained largely at the periphery of U.S. history narratives."" The result is a work that offers at once a fuller portrait of the Catholic experience in and impact on the American West, and also tantalizing glimpses that are highly suggestive of fruitful areas for further study. The contributors to ""Catholicism in the American West"" bring to light the variety, the hardships, and, ultimately, some of the triumphs of Catholicism in the American West. These studies are fine examples of the scholarship currently ""reshaping how historians understand the role of Catholicism both in the development of the West and in the broader history of the nation.

Believing in Place is the personal testimony of a scientist who discovers the divine in the land he has studied for decades. Geographer Richard V. Francaviglia recounts his own awakening to the spirituality of “place” as he suddenly sees the sacred dimension of science. The Great Basin is the focus of Francaviglia’s meditations. It is a huge, physically diverse, and often misunderstood region that lies between the Sierra Nevada and Wasatch Mountains. It is also an area that fills the author with awe. “I feel more closely connected to the universe here than in other places. That epiphany has made my many trips into the Great Basin since 1960 pilgrimages, for I never fail to come out of this region restored and reenergized. I at-tribute that to feeling closer to both creation and the creator here,” Francaviglia shares in his introduction. Wanting to understand the region’s hold on him and others, Francaviglia set out to determine what gives the Great Basin its genius loci. As a historical geographer, he felt the place itself—with its topography, vegetation, weather, and climate—could be a major factor in deciphering both the spirit of the place and the human spirit. By employing a broad definition of spirituality, Francaviglia demonstrates that many people in the Great Basin are in search of meaning that depends on, yet transcends, the environment.

Second Place, Presidio La Bahia Award, Sons of the Republic of TexasThe Gulf Coast has been a principal place of entry into Texas ever since Alonso Alvarez de Pineda explored these shores in 1519. Yet, nearly five hundred years later, the maritime history of Texas remains largely untold. In this book, Richard V. Francaviglia offers a comprehensive overview of Texas' merchant and military marine history, drawn from his own extensive collection of maritime history materials, as well as from research in libraries and museums around the country.Based on recent discoveries in nautical archaeology, Francaviglia tells the stories of the Spanish flotilla that wrecked off Padre Island in 1554 and of La Salle's flagship Belle, which sank in 1687. He explores the role of the Texas Navy in the Texas Revolution of 1835-1836 and during the years of the Texas Republic and also describes the Civil War battles at Galveston and Sabine Pass. Finally, he recounts major developments of the nineteenth century, concluding with the disastrous Galveston Hurricane in 1900. More than one hundred illustrations, many never before published, complement the text.

This important volume addresses a number of central topics concerning how history is depicted in film. In the preface, the volume editors emphasize the importance of using film in teaching history: students will see historical films, and if they are not taught critical viewing, they will be inclined simply to accept what they see as fact. Authors of the individual chapters then explore the portrayal of history - and the uses of history - in specific films and film genres. Robert Rosenstone's ""In Praise of the Biopic"" considers such films as ""Reds"", ""They Died with Their Boots On"", ""Little Big Man"", ""Seabiscuit"", ""Cinderella Man"", and ""The Grapes of Wrath"". In his chapter, Geoff Pingree focuses on the big questions posed in Jay Rosenblatt's 1998 film ""Human Remains"". Richard Francaviglia's chapter on films about the Middle East is especially timely in the post-9/11 world. One chapter, by Daniel A. Nathan, Peter Berg, and Erin Klemyk, is devoted to a single film: Martin Scorsese's urban history ""The Gangs of New York"", which the authors see as a way of exploring complex themes of the immigrant experience. Finally, Robert Brent Toplin addresses the paradox of using an art form (film) to present history. Among other themes, he considers the impact of Patton and Platoon on military decisions and interpretations, and of Birth of a Nation and Glory on race relations. The cumulative effect is to increase the reader's understanding of the medium of film in portraying history and to stimulate the imagination as to how it can and how it should not be used. Students and teachers of history and cinema will benefit deeply from this informative and thoughtful discussion.

Like the rosary itself, the influence of Catholicism on the social and historical development of the American West has been both visible and hidden: visible in the effects of personal conviction on lives and communities; hidden in that the fuller context of this important American religious group has been largely marginalized or undervalued in traditional historiographic treatments of the region. This volume, an outgrowth of the 2004 Walter Prescott Webb Memorial Lectures, seeks to redress this imbalance. Editors Roberto R. Trevino and Richard Francaviglia have assembled here a variety of scholarly voices to present, according to the preface, ""little-known stories about a religion whose traditions and adherents had until recently remained largely at the periphery of U.S. history narratives."" The result is a work that offers at once a fuller portrait of the Catholic experience in and impact on the American West, and also tantalizing glimpses that are highly suggestive of fruitful areas for further study. The contributors to ""Catholicism in the American West"" bring to light the variety, the hardships, and, ultimately, some of the triumphs of Catholicism in the American West. These studies are fine examples of the scholarship currently ""reshaping how historians understand the role of Catholicism both in the development of the West and in the broader history of the nation.

Believing in Place is the personal testimony of a scientist who discovers the divine in the land he has studied for decades. Geographer Richard V. Francaviglia recounts his own awakening to the spirituality of “place” as he suddenly sees the sacred dimension of science. The Great Basin is the focus of Francaviglia’s meditations. It is a huge, physically diverse, and often misunderstood region that lies between the Sierra Nevada and Wasatch Mountains. It is also an area that fills the author with awe. “I feel more closely connected to the universe here than in other places. That epiphany has made my many trips into the Great Basin since 1960 pilgrimages, for I never fail to come out of this region restored and reenergized. I at-tribute that to feeling closer to both creation and the creator here,” Francaviglia shares in his introduction. Wanting to understand the region’s hold on him and others, Francaviglia set out to determine what gives the Great Basin its genius loci. As a historical geographer, he felt the place itself—with its topography, vegetation, weather, and climate—could be a major factor in deciphering both the spirit of the place and the human spirit. By employing a broad definition of spirituality, Francaviglia demonstrates that many people in the Great Basin are in search of meaning that depends on, yet transcends, the environment.