How one solar power plant might chart a sustainable path forward for enlisting American capitalism in the fight against climate change.

Texas is as well known for its diversity of landscape and culture as it is for its enormity. But West Texas, despite being popularized in film and song, has largely been ignored by historians as a distinct and cultural geographic space. In West Texas: A History of the Giant Side of the State, Paul H. Carlson and Bruce A. Glasrud rectify that oversight. This volume assembles a diverse set of essays covering the grand sweep of West Texas history from the ancient to the contemporary. In four parts—comprehending the place, people, politics and economic life, and society and culture—Carlson and Glasrud and their contributors survey the confluence of life and landscape shaping the West Texas of today. Early chapters define the region. The “giant side of Texas” is a nineteenth-century geographical description of a vast area that includes the Panhandle, Llano Estacado, Permian Basin, and Big Bend–Trans-Pecos country. It is an arid, windblown environment that connects intimately with the history of Texas culture. Carlson and Glasrud take a nonlinear approach to exploring the many cultural influences on West Texas, including the Tejanos, the oil and gas economy, and the major cities. Readers can sample topics in whichever order they please, whether they are interested in learning about ranching, recreation, or turn-of-the-century education. Throughout, familiar western themes arise: the urban growth of El Paso is contrasted with the mid-century decline of small towns and the social shifting that followed. Well-known Texas scholars explore popular perceptions of West Texas as sparsely populated and rife with social contradiction and rugged individualism. West Texas comes into yet clearer view through essays on West Texas women, poets, Native peoples, and musicians. Gathered here is a long overdue consideration of the landscape, culture, and everyday lives of one of America’s most iconic and understudied regions.

An American original, the great Johnny D. Boggs weaves a Texas-sized tale of an 1880s badlands--under the grasp of a lawman gone rogue. . . In For Justice In For The Kill Between the Pecos River and Rio Grande a vast, harsh land was ruled by Texas Rangers Captain Hector Savage. Savage's motive wasn't duty, it was money; he's turned this desolate place into a bloodied, terrorized kingdom. Now, a protégé of Savage, Sergeant Dave Chance, has come with a prisoner--a big-talking murderer in his own right--shackled at his side. A decent, honest Ranger, Chance cannot stand idly by while Savage runs roughshod over the territory. Now, to save a traumatized people, he must turn his prisoner loose and give him a gun. Only their combined firepower can penetrate Savage's fortress and kill him. That is, if they don't kill each other first. . . "Johnny Boggs has produced another instant page-turner. . .don't put down the book until you finish it." --Tony Hillerman on Killstraight "Johnny D. Boggs tells a crisply powerful story that rings true more than two centuries after the bloody business was done." --The Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier on The Despoilers "Boggs is unparalleled in evoking the gritty reality of the Old West." --The Shootist

Historian Mike Cox has been writing about Texas history for four decades, sharing tales that have been overlooked or forgotten through the years. Travel to El Paso during the "Big Blow" of 1895, brave the frontier with Elizabeth Russell Baker, and stare down the infamous killer known as Old Three Toe. From frontier stories and ghost towns to famous folks and accounts of everyday life, this collection of West Texas Tales has it all.

In the heart of Texas, love comes knocking when you least expect it… The Cowboy and His Wayward Bride Country singer Laurie Jensen has never forgotten her childhood sweetheart, rancher Harlan Patrick Adams. After all, she admitted she loved him, then left with no explanation when she discovered she was pregnant. Being on the road with a newborn has taken its toll, and she’s given everything for her career. The last thing she wants is to settle down—but will she change her mind when her baby’s father comes calling? Suddenly, Annie’s Father Ever since a tragic car accident ruined his career, ex—rodeo star Slade Sutton put down new roots at the Adams family ranch. His hectic life left little room for family—until his ten-year-old daughter lands on his doorstep with no one else to turn to. Slade knows he’ll need whatever help he can find—even from mysterious rancher Val Harding. Slade has a heart of gold when it comes to his daughter, but he must discover if there’s room in his heart for Val, too. Author of the hit Netflix series Sweet Magnolias

This inviting book explores how small-town Marfa, Texas, has become a landmark arts destination and tourist attraction, despite--and because of--its remote location in the immense Chihuahuan desert.

Featuring a side of Tejano history too often neglected, author Arnoldo De León shows that people of Spanish-Mexican descent were not passive players in or, worse, absent from West Texas history but instead were active agents at the center of it. The collection of essays in Tejano West Texas—many never before published—will correct decades of historiographical oversight by emphasizing the centrality of the Mexican American experience in the history of the region. De León, a true dean of Tejano history, showcases the continued presence and contribution of Mexican Americans to West Texas. This collection begins in the 1770s when settlers of Mexican descent first began migrating to Presidio and then to other sections of the Big Bend. De León then turns his attention to the nineteenth century when Mexican immigrants and other Texans searched for work throughout the West Texas hinterland, and his coverage continues onward through the twentieth century. Mexican American and Texas history scholars will find Tejano West Texas to be an invaluable addition to the Tejano narrative.