Ashbel Smith of Texas

"In the first full-length biography of this important Texas statesman, Elizabeth Silverthorne portrays not only a very human and exciing personality but also the world he lived in, as seen through his eyes, and the part he played in shaping that world. Using public records, Smith's own journals, memoranda, and personal papers and the writings of his prominent contemporaries, she presents the tale of a vital, complex life 'so inextricably woven into the history of Texas ... that whenever we examine any of the burning issues of the day--finance, politics, religion, transportation, immigration, agriculture, warfare, medicine, or education--we find Ashbel Smith there, analyzing, expounding, crusading, searching for the truth to open the way to a better life' for Texans"--