What is the author's tone in Sam Houston and the American Southwest by Randolph B. Campbell?

As a history text, the book adheres closely to factual reality and there is a sense that the author is taking pains to remain objective. Sam Houston is shown "warts and all," and while Campbell clearly has respect and admiration for the man and his adventurous life, Campbell also describes Houston's political failures such as his Tennessee exile and his failures to stop the Texas secession, as well Houston's personal failures such as his long-term alcoholism.

Still, Campbell has a strong sense of pacing and the book proceeds at a fairly breezy clip. Campbell has a strong sense for the tangential details and ironies that enrich such a biography, such as Houston's lack of formal education but love for Homer's Iliad. The text also betrays a certain tongue-in-cheek fun with the episode in which Houston canes Congressman Stanbery. Houston strikes Stanbery in the testicles and Campbell wryly avoids the obvious description, opting to use a quotation stating that Houston struck Stanbery "elsewhere."

Campbell's tone is not dry, but is in fact quite engaging. Campbell's history of Texas is one of great men like Houston, Burnet, Austin, and others, their personalities clashing, and their emotions bared. Campbell is able to effectively communicate this more personal and more emotional approach to history with a liberal use of quotations from Houston's letters and speeches. Frequent quotations allow the reader to get into the heart and mind of Houston, a method which, arguably, is a more satisfying and effective rendering of history than a dry recitation of facts.