On History's Trail: Speeches and Essays by the Texas State Historian, 2009–2012

by Light Townsend Cummins, Larry McNeill (Foreword)

On History’s Speeches and Essays of the Texas State Historian, 2009–2012 contains twenty-nine speeches and essays from Light Townsend Cummins’s time as the State Historian of Texas, when he spoke to dozens of groups across the Lone Star State and beyond.

The subjects include the settlement of Canary Islanders in Texas and Louisiana, the Red River War, Dallas sculptress Allie V. Tennant, the “hometown” of Audie Murphy, and much more. While wide-ranging in time and place, this collection emphasizes the importance of biography and the individual in Texas history, never losing the warmth and humanity that is Cummins’s hallmark.

The most important point of On History’s Trail , though, is the most valuable lesson Cummins learned while State The history of Texas is alive and well today. There are more people reading and researching the history of the state than ever before. The range of topics in this volume shows the viability, breadth, and range of the state’s remarkable history.

300 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2014

Reviews

[Kin Pier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Cummins is an entertaining and easily read author. I have read several of his works as my primary interest in history is Texas. As the title states, this is a collection of speeches and published essays that Dr. Cummins created or delivered during his tenure as the Texas State Historian. They are mostly quite short pieces and are entertaining. This is a work that would be enjoyed by both the casual and serious historian of Texas.