William Pitt Ballinger: Texas Lawyer, Southern Statesman, 1825-1888 (Barker Texas History Center Series)

Few people have played a more important role in the history of Texas than William Pitt Ballinger. This thoroughly researched and engagingly written biography brings Ballinger to life as one of the most compleat men of his time: lawyer, soldier, public servant, civic leader, author, editorialist, naturalist, education reformer, and bibliophile.In Ballinger's fascinating life and career we see reflected some of the most important issues of his era, including secession, slavery, corporations, and the law. The social, political, and cultural climate of Texas, the South, and the nation are revealed through the life, eyes, and mind of this remarkable, articulate man whose life spanned much of the nineteenth century.