Sam Houston: The Life and Times of the Liberator of Texas, an Authentic American Hero

by John Hoyt Williams

From Simon & Schuster, Sam Houston is John William's vivid, exciting biography of one of the giants of nineteenth-century America.

Sam Houston was one of the most extraordinary figures in American history. During his life, he held an astonishing range of governor of two states (Tennessee and Texas), congressman (Tennessee), senator (Texas), and president of the Republic of Texas during its independence.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History

448 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 1994

Reviews

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating and easy to read biography of a complex pioneer who was an alcoholic adventurer pioneer. It is interesting to read of his early life among Native Americans and how this fed into his later negotiations. He rose as governor of Tennessee to get basically run out of the state for mysterious treatment of his wife. Similarly, he forged an independent republic out of Mexico's Texas to see him similarly cast aside (maybe more accurate to say he cast his success aside) by finding himself on the wrong side (in the South) as a slavery-accepting unionist.

[Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth the effort to finish this biography of Sam Houston. It lacked accuracy and a less biased perspective.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided I am done with this one. Some stuff in here I didn't know - like that he was friends with my Cherokee ancestors. Cool! And some interesting stuff about the Republic of Texas and the whole process to get Texas admitted to the Union. But it was getting a little tedious to read.