Cross Timbers region

I ordered a book on this topic by Richard Francaviglia, formerly a professor at UT Arlington.
The title: "The Cast Iron Forest: a Natural and Cultural History of the North American Cross Timbers"

Has anyone else read it?

Dennis, I read the book some 15 years ago, soon after it was published. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though the writing is a bit stilted. The historical accounts comport well with other sources, nothing very new there, though Francaviglia relates them in a personal way that gives a person a feel for how people lived, and there are details about particular individuals not commonly known. The title is a little misleading, as there is not a lot of flora and fauna described beyond the obvious species. The book is well worth a person's time, and I am glad that I have a hard cover copy.

Dave McNeely



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2021 06:42AM by old man from dallas.

I received a paperback copy this past week.
Information within is quite interesting. Highly recommended if you are
curious about the natural and cultural history of North Texas.

Photo quality in the paperback edition is poor to fair.
I think that is due to the low quality of reproducing the book by the publisher.

Many of the photos were taken by the author in and around Arlington and Fort Worth.

Dennis -

I am not sure there ever was a hardcover edition. I have a first edition in trade paperback (University of Texas Press, 2000) and the maps are very disappointing but fortunately almost all are available online in high resolution. The book is very well sourced with extensive footnotes, the place I look first when buying a book.

You may recall the discussion of De Mezieres on the Phorum way back in 2002 and the Cross Timbers in 2000. Its a trip down memory lane to see all the names no longer participating or no longer alive.

M C

Mine is hard cover.

Dave McNeely