Complex, controversial, and prolific, Howard Barnstone was a central figure in the world of twentieth-century modern architecture. Recognized as Houston’s foremost modern architect in the 1950s, Barnstone came to prominence for his designs with partner Preston M. Bolton, which transposed the rigorous and austere architectural practices of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe to the hot, steamy coastal plain of Texas. Barnstone was a man of contradictions—charming and witty but also self-centered, caustic, and abusive—who shaped new settings that were imbued, at once, with spatial calm and emotional intensity. Making Houston Modern explores the provocative architect’s life and work, not only through the lens of his architectural practice but also by delving into his personal life, class identity, and connections to the artists, critics, collectors, and museum directors who forged Houston’s distinctive culture in the postwar era. Edited by three renowned voices in the architecture world, this volume situates Barnstone within the contexts of American architecture, modernism, and Jewish culture to unravel the legacy of a charismatic personality whose imaginative work as an architect, author, teacher, and civic commentator helped redefine architecture in Texas.

An epic social history of steamship travel from the 19th-century to the ‘Lusitania’, the ‘Mauretania’ and the ‘Titanic’. The great transatlantic steamships became emblems of an age, of a Victorian audacity of spirit-cathedrals to man's harnessing of new technology. Through the innovations and designs of key engineers and shipping magnates – Samuel Cunard, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Edward Knights Collins – ‘the largest movable objects in human history' were created. To the wealthy, steamships represented glamorous travel, but to most they offered cheap passage out of Europe to the New World. At their peak, steamships delivered one million new Americans each year, transforming the world’s oceans from barriers into highways. In this fascinating history, Stephen Fox chronicles the tragedies that marked the evolution of the ocean liner, including the 1852 sinking of the ‘Arctic’, with the loss of three hundred and twenty-two lives, and the early 20th-century losses of the ‘Lusitania’ and the ‘Titanic’. Using contemporary records, diaries and writing, he penetrates the experience of transatlantic passage and examines the societies created on the vast floating cities, ‘a kind of third human environment, neither land nor sea but partaking of each, and bridging them in unprecedented ways’.

During the nineteenth century, the roughest but most important ocean passage in the world lay between Britain and the United States. Bridging the Atlantic Ocean by steamship was a defining, remarkable feat of the era. Over time, Atlantic steamships became the largest, most complex machines yet devised. They created a new transatlantic world of commerce and travel, reconciling former Anglo-American enemies and bringing millions of emigrants who transformed the United States.

In Transatlantic, the experience of crossing the Atlantic is re-created in stunning detail from the varied perspectives of first class, steerage, officers, and crew. The dynamic evolution of the Atlantic steamer is traced from Brunel's Great Western of 1838 to Cunard's Mauretania of 1907, the greatest steamship ever built.

The electrifying story of Raphael Semmes and the CSS" Alabama," the Confederate raider that destroyed Union ocean shipping and took more prizes than any other raider in naval history.
In July, 1862, Semmes received orders to take command of a secret new British-built steam warship, the "Alabama." At its helm, he would become the most hated and feared man in ports up and down the Union coast--and a Confederate legend. Now, with unparalleled authority and depth, and with a vivid sense of the excitement and danger of the time, Stephen Fox tells the story of Captain Semmes's remarkable wartime exploits. From vicious naval battles off the coast of France, to plundering the cargo of Union ships in the Caribbean, this is a thrilling tale of an often overlooked chapter of the Civil War.

Cycle Touring in France concentrates on eight selected one- or two-week bicycle tours which endeavour to offer cyclists of all levels a taste of France's diverse landscapes and superb scenery. From rugged mountain ranges to vast, variegated patchworks of farmland, from beautiful, tranquil forests full of wildlife to high, remote, sweeping plains, from deep, snaking gorges to gentle valley slopes covered with vineyards, France is undoubtedly one of the most inviting countries in the world for cycle touring, a country understandably proud of hosting the greatest cycle race on Earth, the Tour de France. Peppered with hundreds of charming villages that time seems to have forgotten, here you will encounter friendly people, sample fine wines and enjoy exquisite, regional cuisines. Covering some of the most picturesque parts of Brittany, Picardy, Alsace, Auvergne/Languedoc, Provence, Dordogne/Lot, the Alps and Pyrenees, the tours in this guide are accompanied by detailed route descriptions and maps, lists of campsites, bed and breakfasts and hotels, airport and rail connections, and practical information including tips on when to go and what to take, transporting your bicycle and being prepared for carrying out bicycle repairs on the road.

Borderlands: they stretch across national boundaries, and they create a unique space that extends beyond the international boundary. They extend north and south of what we think of as the actual 'border,' encompassing even the urban areas of San Antonio, Texas, and Monterrey, Nueva LeOn, Mexico, affirming shared identities and a sense of belonging far away from the geographical boundary.In Bridging Cultures: Reflections on the Heritage Identity of the Texas-Mexico Borderlands, editors Harriett Romo and William Dupont focus specifically on the lower reaches of the Rio Grande/RIo Bravo as it exits the mountains and meanders across a coastal plain. Bringing together perspectives of architects, historians, anthropologists, sociologists, educators, political scientists, geographers, and creative writers who span and encompass the border, its four sections explore the historical and cultural background of the region; the built environment of the transnational border region and how border towns came to look as they do; shared systems of ideas, beliefs, values, knowledge, norms of behavior, and customs-the way of life we think of as Borderlands culture; and how border security, trade and militarization, and media depictions impact the inhabitants of the Borderlands. Romo and Dupont present the complexity of the Texas-Mexico Borderlands culture and historical heritage, exploring the tangible and intangible aspects of border culture, the meaning and legacy of the Borderlands, its influence on relationships and connections, and how to manage change in a region evolving dramatically over the past five centuries and into the future.

In sixty-seven exquisite watercolors and drawings, nationally famous architect Eugene Aubry captures on paper the sensibilities, the memories, and the grace that evokes Galveston, especially for those who are BOI ("born on the island"). Commissioned by the Galveston Historical Foundation, these works of art are intended to enhance the visual record of the buildings and the unique local architectural style that so many have appreciated over the years.?

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, Galvestonians became more aware than ever of the treasure of the island's historical architecture and the vulnerability of this heritage to forces beyond human control. Aubry's art captures the almost palpable sense of past glories these buildings bring to mind. Aubry--himself BOI--has fashioned these pieces in a way that resonates with those who love the island's ethos.

With a fine eye to the artist's intent and a mastery of detail, architectural historian Stephen Fox expertly and eloquently introduces the work as a whole and, in discursive captions that accompany each image, informs the reader's appreciation of Aubry's art.

So much more than a tribute, "Born on the Island: The Galveston We Remember" stands as a loving homage to Galveston--one that will call its readers home to the island, even if they have never ventured there before.

Richly illustrated with rare period photographs, Houston's Hermann Park: A Century of Community provides a vivid history of Houston's oldest and most important urban park. Author and historian Barrie Scardino Bradley sets Hermann Park in both a local and a national context as this grand park celebrates its centennial at the culmination of a remarkable twenty-year rejuvenation.As Bradley shows, Houston's development as a major American city may be traced in the outlines of the park's history. During the early nineteenth century, Houston leaders were most interested in commercial development and connecting the city via water and rail to markets beyond its immediate area. They apparently felt no need to set aside public recreational space, nor was there any city-owned property that could be so developed.By 1910, however, Houston leaders were well aware that almost every major American city had an urban park patterned after New York's Central Park. By the time the City Beautiful Movement and its overarching Progressive Movement reached the consciousness of Houstonians, Central Park's designer, Frederick Law Olmsted, had died, but his ideals had not. Local advocates of the City Beautiful Movement, like their counterparts elsewhere, hoped to utilize political and economic power to create a beautiful, spacious, and orderly city. Subsequent planning by the renowned landscape architect and planner George Kessler envisioned a park that would anchor a system of open spaces in Houston. From that groundwork, in May 1914, George Hermann publicly announced his donation of 285 acres to the City of Houston for a municipal park.Bradley develops the events leading up to the establishment of Hermann Park, then charts how and why the park developed, including a discussion of institutions within the park such as the Houston Zoo, the Japanese Garden, and the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The book's illustrations include plans, maps, and photographs both historic and recent that document the accomplishments of the Hermann Park Conservancy since its founding in 1992.
Royalties from sales will go to the Hermann Park Conservancy for stewardship of the park on behalf of the community.