The tide already had ebbed on the era of wooden ships, but wartime fuel and steel shortages suddenly made them useful again. It is a fascinating story, well told. Originally intended to transport East Texas pine to Europe, the ships ended up carrying other cargo after America entered the war against Germany in 1917. One of the wooden ships, in a symbolic clash of old and new technologies, was sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Spain. All of these titles are excellent contributions to our understanding of the history of Texas' long coastline, but Francaviglia's From Sail to Steam will stand as the metaphorical lighthouse among books on the state's maritime past.
Political consultants like to say that all politics is local.
So is history. Local history fits into the matrix of state, national or world history like pieces of a puzzle. If the Chisholm Trail went through a particular county, the story of that cattle trail is part of that county's history, part of Texas history, and part of the history of the old West. The problem with local history is that there is not always a state, national or world-class historian available or willing to compile it. City and county histories often are put together by well-meaning amateurs.